BELIZE CITY, Wed. Oct. 15, 2025
   A Belize City fisherman must find a total of $19,000 to pay the fines imposed by the court after he pleaded guilty to possession of prohibited fish following the discovery of 14 pieces of Hawksbill turtle meat in an ice box in his yard in Belize City.
   The bust was made by a team of Fisheries officers onboard a white vessel named, “Timeless” on Monday, October 13, at about 10:30 a.m. This morning, Daniel Marvin Hughes, Jr., a fisherman, learned how expensive it is to have the prohibited species in his possession.
    He appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Mannon Dennison in Court #6 this morning.
    Hughes, Jr. pleaded guilty to the fisheries offense.
   The first time offender, who was facing a maximum fine of $50,000 or 2 years’ imprisonment for the offense of possession of prohibited fish, and an additional $1,000 for each piece of prohibited fish found in his possession, was lucky that he was only charged $5,000—a small percentage (10 percent) of the original fine of $50,000.
   But for each piece of turtle meat, he was fined an additional $1,000, and since he was found in possession of 14 pieces, that additional charge amounted to $14,000.
   Magistrate Dennison ordered him to pay the $5,000 fine, which was the penalty fine for the offense, by March 31, 2026, or in default he will serve 1 year in prison.
   The $14,000 additional fine for the 14 pieces of meat is to be paid by July 31, 2026, in default “distress”, whereby his personal belongings could be seized by the court and sold to go towards payment of the fine.