Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve
Encyclopedia
Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve (GSSCMR) is a protected marine reserve in the central part of Belize's Barrier Reef
. It covers approximately 25980 acres (10,513.7 ha) lying 36 kilometres (22.4 mi) off the coast of Placencia. Established in 2003, The reserve comes under the authority of the government's Fisheries Department, but is managed by the Southern Environmental Association, a community-based organisation.
Gladden Spit is a promontory forming the southernmost tip of the sunken atoll. The spit has a short sloping shelf that drops off steeply at about 40–2000 metres in depth within 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of the reef.
Three small cayes: North Silk, Middle Silk and South Silk, lie south of Gladden entrance just inside Queen Caye. A nesting colony of tern
s has been recorded on North Silk Caye.
The reserve contains some of the healthiest parts of the reef system due to its elevation and good water quality. Gladden Spit itself hosts over 25 species of reef fish. Since the 1920s, fishermen have congregated here to harvest mutton snapper
and grouper
during their ten-day spawning aggregation period that occurs between March and June. Historically, fishermen recorded substantial catches, and whale shark
s—who come to feed on the eggs—were sighted in large numbers. It is the only place worldwide where this activity is known to occur.
The reserve was declared on 18 May 2000 (Gazette No. 68/2000). In 2001, the feeding site of the whale sharks was declared a special protected zone. Tourism regulations were drafted to regulate the increasing number of whale shark tours. Since 2003, the reserve has been divided into a general use zone, a no-take zone around the Silk Cayes, a conch restoration zone and a whale shark and reef-fish spawning aggregation conservation zone.
Belize Barrier Reef
The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly offshore in the north and in the south within the country limits...
. It covers approximately 25980 acres (10,513.7 ha) lying 36 kilometres (22.4 mi) off the coast of Placencia. Established in 2003, The reserve comes under the authority of the government's Fisheries Department, but is managed by the Southern Environmental Association, a community-based organisation.
Gladden Spit is a promontory forming the southernmost tip of the sunken atoll. The spit has a short sloping shelf that drops off steeply at about 40–2000 metres in depth within 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of the reef.
Three small cayes: North Silk, Middle Silk and South Silk, lie south of Gladden entrance just inside Queen Caye. A nesting colony of tern
Tern
Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...
s has been recorded on North Silk Caye.
The reserve contains some of the healthiest parts of the reef system due to its elevation and good water quality. Gladden Spit itself hosts over 25 species of reef fish. Since the 1920s, fishermen have congregated here to harvest mutton snapper
Mutton snapper
The mutton snapper is a fish of the Lutjanidae) family. Largely a Caribbean species, they can be found from North Carolina to South America. They prefer low relief reef structure searching for fishes, shrimps, crabs, squid, and snails. In the Florida keys they may be encountered in shallow water,...
and grouper
Grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...
during their ten-day spawning aggregation period that occurs between March and June. Historically, fishermen recorded substantial catches, and whale shark
Whale shark
The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark, the largest extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of and a weight of more than , but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks...
s—who come to feed on the eggs—were sighted in large numbers. It is the only place worldwide where this activity is known to occur.
The reserve was declared on 18 May 2000 (Gazette No. 68/2000). In 2001, the feeding site of the whale sharks was declared a special protected zone. Tourism regulations were drafted to regulate the increasing number of whale shark tours. Since 2003, the reserve has been divided into a general use zone, a no-take zone around the Silk Cayes, a conch restoration zone and a whale shark and reef-fish spawning aggregation conservation zone.