16/08/2026
Yesterday, we posted about someone illegally selling Hicatee, and it got a lot of attention and responses. So, let’s talk about the Hicatee situation for a minute.
There is a very long history and cultural practice of eating Hicatee in Belize, going back thousands of years to Mayan Civilizations. We understand this deep cultural connection and aren’t trying to take away from it.
The problem is that as human populations have grown, too many Hicatee have been harvested, and their populations have crashed. Currently, they are listed as Critically Endangered, and while they are still present in many of Belize’s rivers, they are much less abundant than they used to be. Scientists have been studying the declines for decades, and we have personally conducted surveys all over Belize. We are very good at capturing them and have spent years intensely searching for them throughout Belize, and in most places, we capture almost entirely juveniles because most adults have been eaten. Hicatee are still here, but they are declining.
Part of the problem is that Hicatee grow very slowly and live for a long time. It takes a female Hicatee 18 years before it starts laying eggs! This makes harvesting Hicatee very different from harvesting something like a Gibnut or a deer. Those animals grow quickly, reproduce rapidly, and only live for a few years. So, when you harvest one of them, the impact is fairly small, and that individual can be quickly replaced. In contrast, when you harvest a Hicatee, that animal would have continued to live for decades, and if it was an adult, it will take at least 18 years for a new individual to grow to that size and replace it.
Because of these issues, it is currently illegal to buy or sell Hicatee in Belize. You are still allowed to capture them for personal consumption (though there are size limits, a closed season in May, and you cannot have more than 3 at a time). The goal is to stop people from harvesting large numbers to sell.
Again, we aren’t trying to take away from anyone’s culture or tell people what to do, but we do want to raise awareness about how serious the issue is with Hicatee. Right now, people are eating Hicatee faster than Hicatee can be replaced, and their populations are declining rapidly. If nothing changes, we will eventually lose Hicatee entirely, and no one wants that. So, our goal is to educate people about what is happening and work with local individuals and communities to make sure that Hicatee are still around for future generations.
