The Belize Fisheries Department (BFD) is leading a coalition with the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Belizean fishers, to explore Managed Access as a fisheries management policy for Belize. This is in response to concern over increasing numbers of fishers, decreasing fish landings, and illegal fishing by Guatemalan and Honduran fishers, who sell Belizean marine products outside Belize, bringing no benefit to Belizean communities. Managed Access limits access to General Use Zones within reserves, restricted by a licensing system to “traditional fishermen”, as defined via community consultation with guidelines produced by BFD, and which establishes catch limits for commercial species that fishers depend on for their livelihoods. Program effectiveness is measured via collection and analysis of catch data from licensed fishers in the short term, and the biological response and economic outcomes in the long term. Two pilot sites have been selected; Port Honduras Marine Reserve (PHMR), co-managed by BFD and TIDE, and Glover's Reef Marine Reserve (GRMR) managed by BFD with support from WCS. The program, launched in July 2011 in both reserves, will run for two years, and if successful will be introduced in all MPAs in Belize. Pending continued success, a management system will be incorporated, using market-based incentives to align fishers' economic interests with conservation outcomes. However, concerns are already being raised over the process by which licenses are issued or denied, with some fearing that loopholes and weak enforcement will erode public confidence in the program. The coalition needs to be highly responsive to the emergence of weaknesses in the current design, to ensure continued buy-in, and ultimately, permanent transition towards Managed Access nationwide.