Enjoying Belizean Seafood
One of the favorite Belize specialties is fresh fish, especially along the coast and on the islands, but even inland Belize is never more than 60 miles from the ocean. There’s lobster, shrimp, red snapper, sea bass, halibut, barracuda, conch, and lots more prepared in a variety of ways.
Conch has been a staple in the diet of the Mayan and Central American communities along the Caribbean coast for centuries. There are conch fritters, conch steak, and conch stew; it’s also often used in ceviche—uncooked seafood marinated in lime juice with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and a host of spices. In another favorite, conch is pounded, dipped in egg and cracker crumbs, and sautéed quickly (like abalone steak in California) with a squirt of fresh lime. Caution: If it’s cooked too long, it becomes tough and rubbery. Conch fritters are minced pieces of conch mixed into a flour batter and fried—delicious. On many boat trips, the crew will catch a fish and some conch and prepare them for lunch, as ceviche; cooked over an open beach fire; or in a “boil-up,” seasoned with onions, peppers, and achiote, a fragrant red spice grown locally since the time of the early Maya.
Responsible Seafood in Belize
Many ocean waters are overfished, due in large part to increasing demand from tourists. These helpful tips will ensure you eat seafood responsibly.
- Don’t order seafood out of season. The once-prolific lobster (season closed Feb. 15-June 15) is becoming scarce in Belizean waters, and conch (season closed July 1-Sept. 30) is not nearly as easy to find as it once was. Most reputable restaurateurs follow the law and don’t buy undersize or out-of-season seafood; however, a few have no scruples.
- Small snappers are great fish to eat. Not only are they delicious, but they are one of the most sustainably caught fish in Belize (often caught locally with a hook and line).
- When dining out, don’t patronize any restaurant offering shark fin soup or panades (meat pies) made with shark meat. Not only are sharks critical to a functional marine ecosystem, but the meat is high in methyl mercury, so it’s bad for you too.
- Avoid any restaurant that displays endangered reef fish, like the Nassau grouper or goliath grouper, in tanks as meal choices. In fact, stay away from grouper in general, especially goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara, locally known as jewfish), a critically endangered species that is also high in methyl mercury.
- Lastly, don’t buy marine curios such as shark teeth or jaws, starfish, or coral.