Lobster divers dying in Honduras, struck with paralysis and decompression illness

[Judi Lynn]

Source: New York Daily News

Lobster divers dying in Honduras, struck with paralysis and decompression illness
Many take the risk in the poverty-stricken area because jobs are scarce
BY Rheana Murray
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, November 19 2011, 12:27 AM


The lobster from Honduras’ Miskito Coast is to die for - literally.

Seafood fishermen from the country’s poverty stricken Caribbean coast are dropping dead from decompression sickness known as “the bends” caused by diving too-deep without the proper equipment, all in pursuit of the luxury crustacean they call "red gold," MSNBC.com reported.

"It's incredibly dangerous, what they are doing," diving safety expert Eric Douglas told the network. "They are diving so far beyond anything that we would consider to be within acceptable limits.

"They are poorly trained. They are poorly equipped. They have none of the basic things that divers today would consider mandatory equipment - pressure gauges, alternate air sources, even a buoyancy control vest to help them float underwater without effort," he news site.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lobster-divers-dying-honduras-struck-paralysis-decompression-illness-article-1.980068

[Judi Lynn]

1. Honduras: America's great foreign policy disgrace

Honduras: America's great foreign policy disgrace
First, the US backed a coup that deposed the elected president. Now, it's backing the return of death-squad government
Mark Weisbrot guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 November 2011 16.02 EST

Imagine that an opposition organiser were murdered in broad daylight in Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador or Venezuela by masked gunmen, or kidnapped and murdered by armed guards of a well-known supporter of the government. It would be front page news in the New York Times, and all over the TV news. The US State Department would issue a strong statement of concern over grave human rights abuses. If this were ever to happen.

Now imagine that 59 of these kinds of political killings had taken place so far this year, and 61 the previous year. Long before the number of victims reached this level, this would become a major foreign policy issue for the United States, and Washington would be calling for international sanctions.

~snip~
Of course, President Obama refused to even meet with the democratically elected president who was overthrown in the coup that he mentioned, even though that president came to Washington three times seeking help after the coup. That was Manuel Zelaya, a left-of-center president who was overthrown by the military and conservative segments of society in Honduras after instituting a number of reforms that people had voted for, such as raising the minimum wage and laws promoting land reform.

But what angered Washington most was that Zelaya was close to the left governments of South America, including Venezuela. He wasn't any closer to Venezuela than Brazil or Argentina was, but this was a crime of opportunity. So, when the Honduran military overthrew Zelaya in June of 2009, the Obama administration did everything it could for the next six months to make sure that the coup succeeded. The "pressure from the international community" that Obama referred to in the above statement came from other countries, mainly the left-of-center governments in South America. The United States was on the other side, fighting – ultimately successfully – to legitimise the coup government through an "election" that the rest of the hemisphere refused to recognise.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/18/honduras-america-foreign-policy-disgrace

[CarmanK]

2. People are hungry and need to work! Where are the Nonprofits??

All they need is some equipment and training to learn how to dive. Where are the nonprofits?? this is the type of problem that could be solved easily and people will live with dignity.

[eShirl]

3. They may hesitate to be seen as supporting supposed animal cruelty to lobsters.

[Scuba]

4. What they are doing is incredibly dangerous. It's not so much the depth...

... although 120 is near the max of "recreational diving" limits (130' - Few dive boat operators will guide dives deeper than 100 feet.)

What's really dangerous is the multiple dives. The body needs time (surface intervals) to "off-gas" what is absorbed by human tissue under pressure.

Even with proper equipment, no one should be making that many dives to those depths in one day.

These people are, off course, desperate.




"They have none of the basic things that divers today would consider mandatory equipment - pressure gauges, alternate air sources, even a buoyancy control vest to help them float underwater without effort," he news site.

Armed with little protection, lobster divers still plummet to dangerous depths of up to 120 feet, sometimes sixteen times in one day. The lobster, 90% of which is shipped to the U.S. can fetch up to $3 per lbs, worth risking paralysis and even death if they stay down too long."

[Bosonic]

5. Is there a good reason why they don't use lobster traps/pots?

They aren't mentioned in the article, but they can be homemade relatively cheaply from wood and rope.

[Maine-ah]

7. I was just going to post that

scrap wood, some rope and a skiff would do the trick.

[Divernan]

9. According to Divers Alert Network, traps wouldn't work in Honduras

I've dived in the Honduras, and my initial thought was that traps would not work there, but I googled to make sure. Here's what the dive safety experts say.


http://www.alertdiver.com/?articleNo=380

"In Honduras, where there is no security and lobster harvesting is done well offshore, it's neither practical nor possible for the divers to leave traps in place. Instead, they must dive to pick up the lobster by hand—putting themselves at greater risk for injury."

http://www.freshthemovie.com/2011/06/16/demand-for-spiny-lobster-pushes-divers-to-death/

"Spiny lobster might be sustainable, but the harvesting techniques aren’t.

Around the world, divers harvest the sea for spiny lobster, abalone and other shellfish, while they face paralysis or death without understanding the danger.

Over the past year, Eric Douglas, Director of Education and Dr. Matias Nochetto, Director of Operations and Outreach at Divers Alert Network (DAN) have traveled to Honduras, Mexico and northeast Brazil to learn about these divers and to investigate ways to help."

[madrchsod]

6. here`s a website and facebook page about the issue

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/episode-guide/series-2011/episode-19

http://www.facebook.com/thelobsterfilm

[Divernan]

8. They have 1 hyperbaric chamber, but it's 200 miles from the Moskito coast area.

Many injured fishermen find themselves in the hands of Dr. Elmer Meija, who has treated more than 250 divers in the past three years at his clinic in La Ceiba, Honduras. Meija's clinic features the only existing hyperbaric chamber used to treat the diving-induced illness.

"We feel very pleased when they improve very quickly at the chamber, but sometimes we are kind of scared because if they improve so quick, so fast, they will think the hyperbaric chamber makes miracles," Meija told MSNBC.com. "So they will go back again diving and the next time can be the last time."

Meija often visits his patients along the Miskito coast, about 200 miles from his clinic. There, people have no electricity or running water. Most families in the remote area have at least one family member who was injured diving.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lobster-divers-dying-honduras-struck-paralysis-decompression-illness-article-1.980068#ixzz1e9uVaFRg
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It would simply be a matter of education, plus a one time grant for the necessary safety equipment to make this a great source of income for this impoverished area. These guys are evidently diving with just a tank, a mouthpiece and a mask. They need safety training, BCDs (buoyance control device/vest)and depth & pressure gauges so they don't go too deep or run out of air at depth and shoot to the surface without making a safety decompression stop.
I was pleased to see that DAN (Divers Alert Network), based in Durham, North Carolina, has involved itself in helping out these divers.

[elehhhhna]

10. DAN rocks...s PADI on this, too?

Recreational diving is an expensive sport...dan and padi shoudl be able to fundraise for this pretty easily...

[Divernan]

11. Don't know whether PADI's involved or not .

After the 2008 financial collapse and the disappearance of most of my retirement savings, my 2 or 3 scuba trips per year came to a screeching halt! I'm glad I got to see so many wondrous sights in various oceans/countries when I did.