The Fishing Industry
The economy of Ambergris Caye shifted from coconuts to fishing, beginning in the late 1940s. Fishing had long been a means of supplementing the diet and income of those on Ambergris Caye, but rarely a true livelihood. Particularly important was fishing of Nassau grouper at the grouper bank at Caye Glory during December and January of each year. The grouper was so plentiful that a fisherman could earn as much from a few days of fishing at Caye Glory as during 6 months of routine work. In the early 1920s, an American named Stibbs and one Captain R. E. Foote, a Canadian, founded canneries to process lobster tails for export to the US market, thus establishing the beginning of Belize’s spiny lobster industry.
In the 1940s and 1950s, freezer boats from the US came to Belize to purchase lobsters from the fishermen at a very low price. To secure better prices, the fishermen of Ambergris Caye finally joined together in 1963 and established the Caribeña Producers Cooperative Society Limited. Lobsters caught by co-op members were shipped to the Caribbean Queen Company in Belize City which processed the lobsters at its plant and exported them. Sometime in late 1964, Adam Smith, an American who operated a large meat packing company in Honduras and a small lobster business in the Bay Islands, signed a 5-year contract with Caribeña in which they agreed to sell its lobster to Smith exclusively. In return, Smith agreed to provide the generators, compressors, refrigeration equipment, building materials and other items needed to build a processing plant in San Pedro. By October 1965, the new plant was not only operational and meeting Caribeña needs, but was providing refrigeration and electrical services to all of San Pedro.