Gulf of Honduras

The gulf's limits have not been demarcated by the International Hydrographic Organization.^[8] Its northernmost point is variously given as Belize City, Dangriga, or Gladden Spit; its easternmost point as Punta Sal, Punta Izopo, or La Ceiba.^[3][9][10] The northern limits are in the Belize or Stann Creek districts of Belize, while the eastern ones are in the Atlántida Department of Honduras.^{[citation needed][note 2]}

During the 16th through 20th centuries, the limits were thought to run from Cape Catoche to Cape Gracias a Dios.^{[citation needed]}

In 10‍–‍12 December 1989, the Central American Integration System established the Commission for the Environment and Development, a body charged with coordinating environmental protection policies, projects, and programmes across the region.^[11][12] Upon the 12 October 1994 signing of the Alliance for the Sustainable Development of Central America, the Commission adopted its first regional environmental management plan.^[13][12] In 1995 and 2005, the Commission secured grant financing for its work in the gulf.^{[14][note 3]}

In 1996, nine NGOs in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras established the Trinational Alliance for the Conservation of the Gulf of Honduras.^[15][14] The alliance seeks to harmonise members' management policies for marine and coastal protected areas in the gulf and to coordinate their management and research activities.^[16][14]

The gulf's northern (ie Belizean) shores consist mostly of sandy beach ridges, saline tidal swamps, and shelf lagoons. It is dotted with small estuaries, mangrove forests, seagrass beds, patch and barrier reefs, and mangrove and coral cayes.^[17] The coast in the mouth of the gulf (Guatemalan coastline) consists mainly of mangrove thickets, large estuaries, seagrass beds, and beaches.^[17] The southern coast (in Honduras) is marked by long beaches, vast mangroves, and mangrove and coral cays.^[17]

The gulf's continental shelf extends some 9 to 25 miles (15–40 km) from shore.^[17] The northern shelf holds part of the Belize Barrier Reef which stretches to the Sapodilla Cayes. The shelf in the mouth of the gulf holds five parallel submarine ridges of continental origin, which jut out towards the north-northeast.^[17][18] It is cleaved by the Swan Island fault, which divides the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates and forms the southern boundary of the Cayman Trough.^[19][20]

The climate is tropical or sub-tropical (ie Am and Af Köppen climate classifications).^[17][21] Temperature varies little throughout the year, averaging 82 °F (28 °C), though this is slightly moderated to 73 °F (23 °C) by cold northerlies and trade winds blowing from North America during the winter months.^[22][23] Rainfall and humidity are seasonal; rainfall averages 1.98 inches (50 mm) per month from June to October and 10.83 inches (275 mm) per month from November to May.^[24] The wet season is brought by the annual northern migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.^[24] Rainfall and humidity additionally vary by location, with some 118–157 inches (3,000–4,000 mm) of annual rainfall in the coastal areas, and some 394 inches (10,000 mm) in the Maya Mountains.^[24][23] The northeasterly trade winds are the most dominant influence on the annual wind pattern; their speeds range from 9.84 feet (3 m) to 26.25 feet (8 m) per second.^[25] Tropical storms and hurricanes are regular between August and October, with the northeastern section averaging 60 storms per century and the southwestern coast averaging 20 storms per century.^[26][27][28]

The northern coast, upon the Yucatan Peninsula, reached its present location during the Late Jurassic some 150 Mya.^[29][30] It was joined by the Central American platform during the Eocene some 40 Mya, thereby forming a gulf or bay around its present location.^[31][32] The northern coast consists primarily of three geologic formations: metamorphosed sediments and granite intrusions in the Maya Mountains, and coastal alluvial sediments east, southeast, and south.^[33] The metasediments are the oldest rocks in Belize, formed during the Palaeozoic era some 300 mya.^[33] They form part of the Santa Rosa Group and are composed of fine-grained phyllite, slate, and mudstone. The alluvial sediments formed during the Tertiary period some 10 mya.^[33] Primary soil types are Ossory (from metasediments), Stopper (from granite), Melinda and Puletan (from alluvial sediment), and tintal soils (wet, swampy type soils).^[33] The Belize Barrier Reef protects the coast from open sea waves.^[34] As such, the north-south littoral drift along the coast is primarily driven by waves formed within the reef.^[34]

The Guatemalan coast at the mouth of the gulf consists primarily of alluvial material from the Quaternary era.^[33] The southern coast consists primarily of sedimentary alluvium (surficial bounders, cobbles, gravel, sand, and mud) and intrusive plutonic formations of granite, granodiorite, and diorite.^[33] These formed during the Quaternary and Cretaceous.^[33] The west-east littoral drift along the coast is driven mainly by open sea waves, which tend to approach the shoreline from east to west.^[34]

The gulf is part of the Cayman Trench, one of five deepwater basins in the Caribbean Sea.^[35] It contains the open-sea lagoon formed by the Belize Barrier Reef, Amatique Bay, the Atlantic coast of Guatemala, and the eastern part of the coast of Honduras.^[35] The western part of the gulf sits on the continental shelf, which extends 37 miles (60 km) offshore, and so is rather shallow, with mean depths of less than 98 feet (30 m).^[35] Large freshwater discharge from the Sarstoon, Dulce, and Motagua rivers limit coral development in the mouth to a few isolated patches, as at Hunting Caye, for instance.^[35] Towards the northeast, the continental shelf drops off abruptly, from some 98 feet at the shelf break to some 6,560 feet in the Cayman Trench.^{[35][note 4]}

The gulf proper encompasses the Toledo and Stann Creek districts of Belize, the Izabal department of Guatemala, and the Cortés and Atlántida departments of Honduras, though the Gulf's watersheds encompass additional districts and departments.^[65] These districts are predominantly rural, ethnically diverse, and agrarian.^[65]

Agriculture is the dominant economic activity, employing over 30 percent of the labour force in Belize's southern districts, for instance.^[66] Agriculture is undertaken both for subsistence and for commerce, with coffee, cacao, and bananas being the lead exports.^[66] Bananas and coffee are major exports.^[66] Smallholders tend to focus on maize, beans, and maicillo.^[66]

The gulf sustains many commercially-fished species, including shrimp, spiny lobster, queen conch, and scale fish (e.g., swordfish, jurel, sea bass, barracuda, tuna, pejerrey, and anchovy).^[66] Some 14.3 million pounds of fish are caught in the gulf each year, worth some $22.8 million (11.4 million USD), with spiny lobster, queen conch, shrimp, and sardines being the major earners.^[66][67] The Belizean coast is particularly known for its shrimping grounds, especially off the Moho, Temash, and Sarstoon rivers, where over 150,000 pounds of shrimp are caught annually by some 200 small-scale fishermen and 10 large-scale trawlers.^[66] In the southern coast, some 1,415 Guatemalan and 647 Honduran small-scale fisherman are active.^[68]

Four aquaculture farms operate on the Belizean coast.^[68] These predominantly grow whiteleg shrimp. In 1999, these farms grew prawn in 107 ponds spanning 722 acres, with an annual production of over two million pounds for local consumption and export.^[69]

Tourism is the second-largest foreign exchange earner in the region.^[70] In Belize, tourism has historically focused on cayes and reefs in the northern part of the country, outside the gulf.^[70] In 2001, for instance, only 11.1 per cent of tourists were destined towards the country's southern districts, accounting for only 6 per cent of income derived from tourist accommodation.^[70] Activities were primarily eco-cultural, with the main attractions being Mayan archaeological sites and various marine and coastal parks.^[70] Tourism infrastructure in the Guatemalan and Honduran coasts is more limited (with the exception of the Honduran Bay Islands).^[71]

The major port facilities are the Big Creek and Belize City ports in Belize, Puerto Barrios and Puerto Santo Tomás in Guatemala, and Puerto Cortés in Honduras, with the Honduran port being the only deepwater port in Central America, and one of the best equipped for cargo.^[72] In 2001, these ports accommodated nearly 4,000 ships and 12 million metric tonnes of cargo.^[72]

Industrial manufacturing is limited in the gulf, particularly in the Belizean coast, where the only major factories in 2003 were two citrus and one rice processing plants.^[73] Guatemalan and Honduran manufacturing are heavily concentrated on the gulf's watersheds.^[74]