DEADLY CATCH: DIVING FOR LOBSTER OFF THE MOSQUITO

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000295

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/EPSC, EEB/BTA, DRL/ILCSR AND OES/OMC
AID FOR BARBARA BEST
COMMERCE FOR NOAA (NANCY DAVES)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIS ELAB ETRD SOCI HO
SUBJECT: DEADLY CATCH: DIVING FOR LOBSTER OFF THE MOSQUITO
COAST


1. (U) Summary: At least 258 divers have been killed and
850 injured diving for lobster on the Honduran North Coast
over the last two decades. The Honduran Fisheries
Association states that Honduras has among the highest
rates of lobster diver casualties in the world. Dangerous
diving procedures are responsible for the casualties.
While some divers receive successful decompression
treatment, those who do not face a bleak economic and
health future. The GOH planned to outlaw lobster diving in
2005 but has since backed away from this plan, instead
adding permits for 11 new lobster dive boats. Much of the
lobster harvest, including meat from undersized and
egg-bearing lobster, makes its way to United States and
Canadian markets, often by way of El Salvador to avoid Lacey
Act prosecutions. End summary.

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Causes of the Problem
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2. (U) In the past two decades, hundreds of Honduran
lobster divers have been injured or killed on the job.
Their injuries are caused by making too many dives in a
day, diving too deep, coming up too fast, lack of safety
equipment or even basic equipment such as depth and
pressure gauges, ignorance of dive physics and an economic
desperation that makes many divers deliberately disregard
their own safety. Whereas a recreational SCUBA diver is
likely to make three dives a day, to a maximum of 90 feet,
Honduran commercial lobster divers average 12 dives a day,
to depths of 80-120 feet, remaining underwater until the
air runs out of their tanks. Diving with such frequency to
such depths causes dissolved nitrogen to accumulate in the
bloodstream beyond the limit of the human body to absorb
after resurfacing. This can cause nitrogen bubbles to form
in the blood -- a condition commonly referred to as "the
bends," which can be fatal. Resurfacing too fast can have
the same effect. Immediate treatment in a decompression
chamber is the only way to avoid permanent injury.


3. (U) Despite multiple, repeated requests, the GOH was
unable to provide a list or even a total number of injured
or deceased lobster divers. EconOff reviewed a list
maintained by the Injured Divers Association; this list
yielded 258 dead and 850 injured. Most contacts suggest
these figures are extremely conservative. From August 2007
through February 2008, 107 divers were treated for injuries
at Anthony's Key Decompression Chamber on the island of
Roatan alone. During EconOff's visit, there were four
injured divers being treated inside the decompression
chamber. Two divers were outside the chamber with crippling
limps, and one was paralyzed from the waist down.

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The Mosquito Coast
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4. (U) While lobster boat crews come from La Ceiba and
the Bay Islands and the diving activity takes place on
reefs throughout Honduras' northern coastal seas, the
lobster divers virtually all come from the impoverished
northeastern Mosquito Coast, Gracias a Dios Department. No
roads connect Gracias a Dios to the rest of Honduras.
Access is by air or water. Centuries ago pirates built
camps and ships here to prey on galleons carrying gold and
silver back to Spain. Even today there is little law
enforcement or other government presence and few economic
opportunities beyond lobster diving and drug trafficking.
Most of the 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants are of the
Miskito or Pech indigenous groups, Afro-Honduran or
Mestizo.


5. (U) Commercial lobster dive boats first came to the
Mosquito Coast in the 1990s. Initially boats with a dozen
divers, diving to shallow depths, could harvest their fill
of lobsters. As the industry grew, more and more divers
crammed onto dive boats. The law allows each relatively
small boat to carry 35 canoes, 35 divers and 35 canoe
paddlers plus the boat's own crew. During a tour of one

such boat, EconOff observed abominable diving conditions.
As the lobster population dwindles, divers must go deeper
and deeper to find their catch. Deeper dives lead to a
vastly increased probability of injury. Often, according
to both divers and crew, the boat captain will make no
effort to bring an injured diver to a decompression
chamber, since such an action would lead to a shorter and
therefore less profitable voyage. Even if he does, the
chambers may be one to five days sail away -- a delay
making fully successful treatment unlikely. If a lobster
diver dies while at sea, his body is placed in the freezer
with the lobsters.

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Assistance for Injured Divers
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6. (SBU) Insurance for divers, although now mandatory, is
not available, according to both the Honduran Fisheries
Association (APESCA) and the divers themselves. Better
equipment is also mandatory, though this has had no effect
on the rate of casualties. These sources also tell us
there are no contracts with the boat captains or company
owners. Honduran Social Security will not cover divers, as
the occupation is considered too dangerous. However, by
custom, an injured diver may receive USD 750-5,000 from the
boat owners, depending on the extent of his injuries, and
the family of a dead diver may receive USD 5,000-7,000.
EconOff interviewed several lobster divers who said these
sums can be much lower depending on the boat captain. Most
planned to return to diving despite their injuries. Dr.
Rafael Diaz from Anthony's Key Decompression Chamber, which
receives the majority of divers who seek treatment,
confirmed that most divers return to work, forever facing a
higher risk of more serious injury. For those partially or
fully paralyzed, the options are bleak once the injury
payment is expended. A few may find employment paddling
the canoes of other divers or have family members who can
provide long term care. Many develop bladder infections or,
if paralyzed, bed sores. Several sources confirm that in
this hot, humid, remote tropical climate with scarce access
to medical care, such infections often lead to death.


7. (U) American NGOs have donated wheelchairs to the
region.
Some wheelchairs were brought into the country through the
Denton Amendment and delivered to the region by Joint Task
Force-Bravo assets. NGOs also have plans to open and operate
additional decompression chambers. USSOUTHCOM has invested
over USD 300,000 in a hyperbaric chamber and other
renovations
for the hospital at Puerto Lempira in Gracias a Dios. Such
actions are helpful but do not address the cause of the
injuries. In other nations, governments have taken action,
such as requiring divers to use boat-mounted, fixed length
air hoses, strictly enforcing their commercial dive laws, or
outlawing commercial lobster diving altogether in favor of
trap
fishing. The GOH had planned to outlaw lobster diving in
2005, but has since backed away from this plan, and added
permits for 11 new lobster dive boats. APESCA states that
Honduras has among the highest rates of lobster diver
casualties in the world.

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Where do the Lobsters Go?
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8. (SBU) The primary markets for Honduran lobster tails
are the United States and Canada. One large U.S. seafood
chain
states it buys only trap-caught lobster. However,
mechanisms to determine the legality or method of capture
of seafood are virtually nonexistent. During a four month
investigation, EconOff spoke to over a dozen contacts,
each of which was certain that Honduran dive-caught
lobsters were making their way, in tremendous numbers, to
the United States and Canada. One mechanism may be "lobster
tail

meat," which sells for USD 12 per pound in the United
States. Since legal size lobster tails sell for USD 26 per
pound, the most likely economic incentive to sell "lobster
tail meat" would be to cover up the small size of the
tail. APESCA, divers and NGOs have suggested the product
enters the United States via El Salvador, which does not have
a
domestic law regulating the size of lobsters that may be
harvested. The absence of such a law allows lobster
importers to avoid convictions in U.S. courts under the
Lacey Act. The lobsters are killed with a spear, then
pulled out of their hiding places. No examination or
measurement is made of the lobster. Undersized and
egg-bearing lobster are harvested along with the rest. As
a result of this tactic as well as over-fishing in general,
all sources agree the lobster stocks are in decline, though
specific numbers are unavailable.

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An Eye Toward the Future
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9. (U) The leaders of both the Association of Injured
Divers and the Association of Active Divers are looking
into alternative employment. For divers paralyzed from the
waist down, construction and repair of lobster traps is an
option. For future generations, there are many options,
including agriculture (African Palm and cacao),fishing,
eco-tourism, aquaculture (shellfish and blue crabs, inside
the numerous lagoons) and forest products, including legal
logging, furniture making, and traditional crafts.

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Comment
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10. (SBU) While better equipment and diver education have
had no apparent effect on the rate of casualties, economic
incentives have worked well with the Honduran fishing
industry. An active Turtle Excluder Device (TED)
monitoring program has ensured that shrimp are harvested
without harming sea turtles; failure to comply results in
an embargo of Honduran shrimp from the U.S. market.
Some have suggested that a ban on dive-caught lobster from
the U.S. market, with a three-year grace period, would
encourage
divers to find alternative employment or encourage the
Honduran
lobster fishing industry to convert the dive boats to
fixed-length-air-hose or trap boats. End comment.
Ford