Guatemala to its west and south, while the Caribbean Sea lies to the east. Nineteen rivers from the interior empty unto the coastal system. Until recently, these rivers were most important avenues of communication in the country. The coastal zone extends further eastward to include the continental shelf, which is delineated by the outer slope of the Belize Barrier Reef, and three offshore atolls. Moreover, the number of tourist arrivals increased from 142,000 in 1988 to 329,000 in 1994.
Tourists compete for reef and fish resources.
The Belize Department of Fisheries and the other Government departments, tasked with managing the fisheries and other users of the marine resources, lack the human and material resources to do the job, notwithstanding an extensive arrays of legislative acts, and formal institutions. Thus, in Belize, there are 94 Acts pertaining to marine resource conservation, administered by 18 Permitting Agencies and 10 Ministries. Belize is a member of 24 international conventions and treaties concerning marine life and coastal protection. What this amounts to, however, is that the Government cannot manage the fisheries and their resources, nor guarantee the health of the ecosystems upon which the fisheries and the resource depend. This has led to a de facto acceptance, by the Government of Belize, of governance arrangements wherein power is shared between stakeholders.