Honduran and nicaraguan moskitia
Table 2 : Contribution of fisheries categories and diving and trapping fishing methods as a percentage of the total annual national lobster fishing yield in Nicaragua
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Table 2 : Contribution of fisheries categories and diving and trapping fishing methods as a percentage of the total annual national lobster fishing yield in Nicaragua.
Over the last six years the national industrial fleet has shown a greater emphasis on diving than trapping (Table 3) probably as diving allows fishermen to be more flexible in their operations as regards location, timing and effort. Table 3 : Percentage contribution of trapping and diving fishing methods to the total annual lobster fishing yield of the Nicaraguan national industrial fishing fleet.
Diving, either with or without SCUBA gear, is also the main fishing method in the artesanal lobster fishery in northern Nicaragua (between Puerto Cabezas and Cabo Gracias). During the survey carried out under the present study in the coastal communities of Pahara, Sandy Bay, Dakura, Awastara, Bismunia and Cabo Gracias, a total of 2,352 people were registered as being involved either in lobster trapping, lobster diving, turtle catching, fishing, or boat transport services. Of this total of 2,532, nearly half (1,098) were involved in lobster diving, while only 334 were trapping lobsters. Interestingly, the contribution of the northern Atlantic fishery to total Atlantic catch has increased substantially over the past six years. Most of the landings in Puerto Cabezas are of lobsters caught in the waters off the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region RAAN) , principally around the Miskito Cays. Most of the landings in Bluefields and Corn Island come from the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), though this is not an absolute distinction. In 1992 and 1993 Puerto Cabezas landings represented 24% and 20% of the total for the Atlantic, respectively. This had risen to 37% by 1997 and 40% for the first semester of 1999. It reflects an increase in activity in the north, including in the artesanal sector and may suggest some over-exploitation in the south. In summary, the Nicaraguan Atlantic lobster fishery has shown a number of distinct trends since the end of the years of conflict in 1989: a marked increase in yield 1989 to 1995 and a leveling off since an increase in the contribution from the national industrial and artesanal sector a phasing out of the foreign industrial trapping fleet, T Photo 4: Trapper's Hut hese trends are not fortuitous, but are the result of changing priorities for effort and investments and in turn themselves have economic, social and environmental costs and benefits. Honduras Lobster fishing at the industrial level began in Honduras in the 1970s. By 1999 there were 172 boats of 12-24 m length licensed to fish for lobster in Honduran waters, plus 47 more with licenses to work in Nicaragua (15) or Colombia (32). The Honduran Atlantic fleet including conch, shrimp and lobster boats totalled approximately 400 vessels in 1999. Of the 172 lobster boats, 82 were trapping boats and 90 working with divers. Most of the Honduran fleet works from the Bay Islands, from Guanaja, Utila and Roatán. In June 1999 there were 41 diving boats and 20 trapping boats working out of Guanaja and only 8-9 boats out of Roatán. Some 40 lobster boats operate from and land at La Ceiba on the mainland. Honduran Atlantic lobster landings have shown a decline over the last decade and the fleet is probably currently over-sized (Fig.5)  In contrast to Nicaragua the main lobster fishing activity in Honduras is industrial, including both trapping and diving activities. The artesanal lobster fishing sector is not well developed, probably because of the greater water depths and the presence of fewer reefs and cays in the Honduran coastal areas. Significant numbers of Honduran nationals are involved in the Nicaraguan industrial fishery however, ranging from investors, boat-owners and captains, through to divers and trapping crews. During the survey carried out during the present study of 416 divers working in the industrial fleet and based in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, 19% were Honduran born.. Many of the sacabuzos, the middlemen who recruit divers for the industrial fleet, are also Honduran nationals. Although the foreign fleet licensed to fish in Nicaragua is being reduced, Hondurans still have considerable involvement in the Nicaraguan industry. Lobster exports are a key component of Honduran foreign currency earnings and in 1998 were valued at US$ 29 million (Table 4).
Collection of data on the activities of the fishery, including on catch/effort, compliance with minimum size and gear restrictions, working conditions of divers etc. is deficient. The Government fisheries authority DIGEPESCAError: Reference source not found gathers some data in the processing plants but does not have the resources for on-board sampling. DIGEPESCA have been able to use University students to help in some on-board data collection. However, budget cuts over the last few years have meant that statistics gathering and activities to supervise and enforce regulations were minimal in 1997 and 1998. As a result the politically powerful fleet owners operate with a degree of autonomy and efforts are needed to increase the statistics gathering and supervisory powers of DIGEPESCA. Current state of exploitation of the lobster fishery in the Moskitia Figure 6 shows the annual lobster yields of Nicaragua and Honduras. The Nicaraguan data are gathered by ADPESCA, the Honduran data by the Honduran Central Bank. (In Honduras there are two sources of national lobster catch data: the Central Bank, (Banco Central) and the fisheries authority DIGEPESCA12. The statistics should be treated with a degree of caution as there are considerable differences between the data from the two sources ). The years of conflict in Nicaragua 1979-1989 and the opening up of access to the Atlantic fishery once peace returned, have influenced annual lobster yields in both countries. During the last decade the combined annual lobster catch of the Honduran and Nicaraguan Atlantic has been in the range of 6 to 9 million pounds of tails (see Fig. 6 Annual Lobster Catch: Nicaraguan and Honduran Atlantic 1978-1998). 
There is some evidence that the fishery catches of the two countries are complementary. During the war years when Nicaragua’s landings fell, the Honduran catch increased. During the 1990s, as Nicaragua’s catch grew, there was a parallel fall in Honduras. It is also noticeable that the combined catch from the two countries shows less fluctuation than that of each country separately. Conclusions from this data should be drawn with caution however, because the trends are not merely a result of biology and fishing pressure but also have been affected by politics: access to the fishery during the years of conflict and an opening-up immediately afterwards; the licensing of Honduran vessels to fish in Nicaragua; the re-flagging of Honduran boats; and, in recent years, poorly controlled illegal fishing in Nicaraguan waters (principally believed to be by Honduran, Colombian and some Jamaican vessels). Nevertheless, the two fisheries should probably be considered as a biological whole, given the known life cycle of the spiny lobster (see section 4.4 ) Typically, one of two patterns of exploitation has prevailed in the spiny lobster fisheries of different parts of the world. Both, during the early exploitation of a fishery, feature a marked increase in catch with only a small increase in effort. Subsequently, either (i) catch rates drop with increasing effort, as has most probably occurred in the case of Honduras; or (ii) catch rates remain fairly stable despite major increases in effort until, the continuing increase in effort ultimately leads to a drop in catch rates; this may be the pattern that is currently occurring in Nicaragua. Over exploitation is a common threat to aquatic resources. Fishermen tend to seek to maximize their catch in the short term but they end up losing in the long term.. Individual fishermen are often well aware of the risk of over exploitation, because they find they need to invest more in equipment, fuel and labour to maintain their catch level. However, their view typically is that if they did not maximise their exploitation of the resource then their neighbour would. Individual fishermen have little motivation to limit their investment and effort. With a growing human population, without other sectors providing employment, without an overall fisheries management plan in place and without enforcement of fisheries laws, rules and regulations, there is an inevitable process of increasing fishing effort and decreasing catch per unit effort. The Moskito Coast fishermen are generally well aware of the danger of over-exploitation of the lobster population, but rules and regulations put in place by the governments of Nicaragua and Honduras to protect the resource are being ignored. The potential gain to fishing communities and the fishing industry from prudent laws and regulations can not be realised if there is a low rate of compliance. The opinion of most of the Moskito Coast fishermen interviewed during the current study was that the Atlantic lobster population is over exploited and that this is as a possible consequence of: (i) poor enforced laws and regulations, (ii) increased effort by artesanal lobster fishermen (fishing methods consist of diving and trapping), (iii) illegal lobster fishing by boats registered in foreign countries, and (iv) increased fishing effort and efficiency by the industrial fleet, particularly through SCUBA diving. While the stakeholders generally accept that over-exploitation may be occurring, there is a lack of hard evidence to support this hypothesis. Such evidence could be obtained by additional fisheries research, including through the consistent monitoring of the lobster catch by each different catch method and the monitoring of the catch per unit effort. (Catch per unit effort reflects the amount of time and energy needed to catch a certain quantity of lobsters.) Close monitoring of this parameter can provide a good indication about the sustainability of a fishery. The Government of Nicaragua through ADPESCA (Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras y Acuícolas, Sección Informática) has monitored the activity of the lobster fishery since 1964 with the aim of collecting catch and effort data, so as to form the rationale for lobster fishery laws and regulations. During the first years after the civil war in Nicaragua, lobster catch per unit effort was monitored based on the number of boats in the industrial fleet. Number of boats, however, is not a reliable indicator of total fishing effort, as it does not include quantification of the labor involved and also does not reflect the amount of time and fuel necessary to obtain a certain catch. In a second stage, ADPESCA started to gather information about the number of boat.fishing days. This is a better parameter than the number of boats to describe fishing effort. However, the number of fishermen and their fishing equipment are still not included as considerations. At the end of 1998, information also began to be collected about the number of fishermen involved in the activity. This, together with the boat.fishing days, makes it possible to calculate the amount of lobster caught per diver per fishing day, a more useful unit of effort. Consistent monitoring in the future will provide a time series of the number of fishermen active in the fishery and their lobster catch per fishing day. This should offer a useful indicator for planning prudent management of the fishery in the coming years. There is insufficient data for the period of the last ten years to give a reliable indication of catch per unit effort. To assist with this problem, a survey was carried out under the present study in which 416 lobster divers of the industrial fishing fleet of Puerto Cabezas were interviewed. This provides anecdotal, but none the less valuable, information. Table 5. summarises the relevant answers of the divers: Table 5: Questions and answers regarding catch and effort during the survey of lobster divers of the industrial diving fleet based in Puerto Cabezas.
Most of the industrial divers in Puerto Cabezas report that during the last ten years they have witnessed a decline in lobster catch per diver.day, and a marked increase in fishing effort. The increase in fishing effort is substantiated by (i) an increase in the duration of fishing trips, (ii) an increase in the number of tanks used per diving day, (iii) an increase in average diving depth. All give strong indications that industrial divers are going farther out to sea to explore deeper waters. While the artesanal lobster fisheries take place along the coast, around reefs and cays, the industrial fisheries are concentrated at locations farther from shore, in deeper waters. The lobster catch per diver.day in the industrial sector has decreased markedly during the last ten years, forcing industrial divers to work deeper. This is contributing to a greater number of diving accidents and also to a targeting of larger lobsters. The average size of spiny lobsters increases with distance offshore or depth (Phillips at al, 1994) - this habit of Panulirus argus has been noted throughout its distribution range. This is a trend that may bring dangers of over-exploitation of animals of breeding size, especially as the ban on the capture of gravid females is widely flouted. The current state of exploitation of the lobster population has reached a point where urgent fisheries management decisions have to be made regarding the allowed fishing methods and techniques. These decisions are further influenced by considerations of the high accident rate amongst the divers in the industrial fleet. From the available monitoring data it is not clear that there is any over-exploitation of the lobster population, however there is strong anecdotal evidence that this is occurring. More than half of the industrial divers interviewed, admitted to illegally catching berried females and undersized lobsters and it can be assumed that a greater number catch illegal animals, but did want to record the fact. Capture of berried females and undersized lobsters is prohibited by existing regulations as a “stop gap” measure to avoid over-exploitation. Fisheries management plans, including improved monitoring programs, now should be formulated and enforced to avoid future over-exploitation of the lobster population. Fisheries management the world over is in a dilemma: monitoring and research are expected to provide the rationale for fisheries management, but typically run behind the trends of improvements in fishing techniques and methods. Monitoring and research programs are relied upon to provide hard evidence of the status of aquatic populations and sustainability of its fisheries, although they can provide results only after a long-term period. During the same long-term period, however, fishing techniques and methods will have improved their efficiency. This results in an outdated set of parameters from the monitoring and research programs, providing inadequate evidence about current status and future sustainability of fisheries. A dramatic example of such inadequacy has been the crash in the cod fisheries off the headlands of North America. Well qualified fisheries scientists had long been monitoring the situation but they have been proven wrong.. Now a complete fishing ban may not be enough to avert the danger of seeing the disappearance of the multi-billion dollar fishery for Atlantic cod in the region . In the case of the Nicaraguan lobster fishery, ADPESCA’s existing and proposed monitoring programs concentrate on obtaining data on the number of fishermen and their lobster catch per fishing day and the changes in these parameters over time. Anecdotal evidence, however, already indicates that lobster fishing is moving into ever deeper waters resulting in (i) a higher consumption of tanks by the SCUBA divers, and (ii) a longer stay of the industrial lobster diving boats at sea – parameters not currently being captured in ADPESCA’s monitoring plans. It is common for academics and fisheries officials to ignore anecdotal evidence, or to try to scientifically confirm anecdotal evidence by lengthy research activities over a number of years. Effective on-the-ground fisheries management needs to be adaptive, however and needs to make use of common sense and on occasions, anecdotal evidence. One parameter currently urgently needing to be monitored on the Moskito Coast is the ratio of paralysed divers to pounds of lobster caught in the industrial diving fleet; if indeed it should be necessary to ask if any number of paralysed divers is justified by landings of lobster. The Moskitia Lobster Fishery as part of the Caribbean Resource The Caribbean Spiny Lobster, (Panulirus argus) is the species of the 48 member family (Palinuridae)2 with the widest natural range. It occurs throughout the Caribbean and as far away as northern Brazil. Spiny lobsters have a complex life cycle (see Fig 7 Life Cycle Of The Spiny Lobster). Breeding females are believed to move to deeper water to release their larvae, at least in some cases travelling to the edge of the coastal platform to do so. Release of the so-called phyllosoma larvae is typically timed with the ebb tide to maximise distribution with the ocean currents3. The larvae are estimated to remain in the floating planktonic stage for between 6 and 11 months, the actual time probably depending on temperature, available food and current velocities. During this period they are carried by currents across considerable distances. Australian species have been recorded as far away as Madagascar and it is likely that larvae released in Nicaragua or Honduras follow Caribbean current flows, almost certainly reaching the waters off Costa Rica, Panama and Cuba and possibly even travelling as far away as Florida. The water current gyre that occurs off Nicaragua and Honduras (see Fig.8 Principal Current Pattern of The Caribbean) may have the effect of bringing a constant supply of postlarvae back into home waters and this may be a factor supporting recruitment to the fishery even in the face of heavy exploitation. After passing through 11 larval stages, the lobster phyllosoma passes to the non-feeding puerulus stage. This is an active swimmer and exploits the currents to move toward shore and take up residence in shallow sea-grass and macro-algae beds. Shortly afterwards, the puerulus moults to become a bottom dwelling juvenile. This “algal phase” juvenile has a characteristic dorsal stripe and banded legs, which offer camouflage in the grass beds. After some three months, the puerulus have reached 15 mm carapace length and begin to seek shelter during the day-time in hiding places in the rock and coral. As the juveniles develop they become gregarious and can be found gathered in often quite large groups in crevices in the reef. Juveniles grow quickly during their first year from settlement, reaching from 25 to as much as 75 mm carapace length by the end of their first year since settlement, that is to say 1½ to 2 years since hatching. Once at 50 mm carapace length or so they move into deeper water and take up the adult habitat on the reefs. Fig: 7: LIFE CYCLE OF THE SPINY LOBSTER Fig.8: PRINCIPAL CURRENT PATTERN OF THE CARIBBEAN Estimates of breeding size vary but some females have been recorded bearing eggs as small as 65mm carapace length; studies by CIRH in Nicaragua4 have shown that 50% of the stock is probably breeding by 80 mm carapace length. This is important to note as it is generally considered that for the prudent protection of a fisheries resource, minimum capture size limits should be set at the level where 50% of the animals in a population are normally breeding. The current size limit in Nicaragua is 75mm carapace length, which in a situation of heavy resource exploitation could lead to severe recruitment overfishing. (fishing at a level where recruitment of new animals to the fishery is adversely affected). Within the region, the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, the Caymans, Mexico, Turks & Caicos and Venezuela have minimum size limits at 80 mm carapace length and above. Fourteen other countries in the region have limits below 80mm including Honduras (69mm) and Nicaragua. Mating in more northerly areas such as Florida and the Bahamas occurs seasonally between April and August, but in the southern Caribbean, mating is year round (with some peaks). Fertilization is external, the male depositing a sticky spermatophore on the ventral plate of the female, this spermatophore subsequently being torn open by her to release the sperm at the moment of egg extrusion. The female carries the fertilized eggs on her pleopods (swimmerets) for 3-4 weeks before the larvae are ready to be released. In some areas in the northern Caribbean, spiny lobsters form large groups in the fall and migrate in remarkable single file queues into deeper water, the migration presumably being to seek protection from winter storms. This complex life cycle has a number of implications for the management of the fisheries of the spiny lobster. Firstly, a regional approach is required if the full dynamics of the resource are to be understood. It is noteworthy that the Honduran and Nicaraguan catches over the past two decades have shown some features of being complementary. When the catch in one of these countries has risen, it has on occasions been loosely associated with a fall in the other and vice versa. There are non-biological factors behind this, including the restrictions in the Nicaraguan fishery during the war years 1979-1989 and the problem of illegal fishing in the region, but the fisheries in the two countries should probably be considered as a biological whole. Spawning in Nicaraguan and Honduran waters may be connected to recruitment to fisheries in other countries in the Caribbean and vice-versa: a link between adult abundance in Nicaragua and catches in Florida one year later has even been suggested.5 Secondly, if fishing proceeds at such an intensity that the number of animals reaching breeding age is reduced below some critical level, recruitment of juveniles will be affected, but the resulting drop in catches may not be observed until two or even three years later. This means that monitoring of the earlier stages must be effective or a conservative approach should be taken when setting catch limits. There have been some initiatives in the past to establish regional programmes of study for the spiny lobster but international co-ordination in this field remains weak. There are well qualified scientists throughout the region who have been working for many years in this field, notably in Cuba and the USA, as well as in Nicaragua. An organisation such as The World Bank might be well placed to strengthen international links in this field to the benefit of many of the countries for whom spiny lobsters represent a significant source of revenue. Cuba and Australia have demonstrated good success in predicting safe exploitation levels of their lobster resources as much as two years ahead, by monitoring the fall of the puerulus stage into the sea-grass beds. A typical collector design for this purpose can be seen in Fig 9. (Phillips Type Puerulus Collector). An attempt was made during the 1996 USAID/CCC study to use similar collectors but they were unfortunately lost or stolen.Error: Reference source not found Fig. 9 : Phillips Type Puerulus Collector Laws and regulations 4.6.1. Nicaragua Nicaragua has been formulating a new Fisheries Law for some years, since the legal base for managing fisheries matters in the country is weak and confused. A Special Fisheries Law adopted in December 1960 was followed during the ensuing decades by various piecemeal decrees and regulations. These included, specific to lobster, Decrees of November 1963, October 1964, March 1981, and June 1988: also Decrees establishing the Nicaraguan Institute of Fisheries, INPESCA, in January 1980 as the fisheries authority; the transfer of its powers to the Ministry of Fisheries, MEDEPESCA, in February 1993; and, the more recent re-organisation of the Fisheries Administration, ADPESCA, under the Ministry of Economy (now Ministry of Commerce, Development and Economy). For most of this time the responsibility for monitoring fisheries exploitation and making recommendations for control measures has been charged to CIRH, the Center for Research into Bio-aquatic Resources. A new Fisheries and Aquaculture Law was passed by Parliament in 1994 but has been awaiting ratification by the Executive ever since. The Ministry of Commerce, Development and Economy of the current administration has recently been taking legal advice as to any improvements needed to this law before final ratification. Normally a law would set broad ground rules for the management of fisheries leaving open the opportunity for the competent authority to make regulations as and when required for the prudent management of the sector. This matter will be advised upon by experts in the field, but there follow a note of some matters identified during the present study that it is recommended should be covered by the Law: The fisheries authority should have the right to inspect boats, gear, catches, on-board activities, operations in processing plants, product at any stage between capture and export, including when packed in containers ready for loading; at will and without prior notice. It should have the power to confiscate product, boats, gear and prosecute in the case of infringements (for instance of size limits or the capture of gravid females). The procedures should be established as to what evidence would be required to demonstrate an infringement of fisheries regulations The fisheries authority and/or the armed forces should have the power to board foreign vessels found in Nicaraguan waters and to empound the vessel and catch until the case is heard in the courts, if permits are found not to be in order. It is understood that the present legal basis for holding a foreign vessel, for instance, is weak, and a good lawyer can swiftly have the vessel liberated. Punitive levels of fines should be allowed under law in the case of proven infringement, as also the confiscation of all gear and catch, and imprisonment of vessel Captains. Sanctions at this level are common in many other countries and are essential if illegal fishing is to be halted in Nicaraguan waters. Sanctions have to be heavy enough to act as a deterrent or vessel owners will just discount fines as a minor cost of operations. The Law should allow the setting of closed areas and closed seasons for fishing with distinction allowed also between artesanal and industrial fishing. The Law should allow issuance of regulation such as one requiring that lobster traps should have a 2¼ inch escape gap, and if possible a panel attached with dissolving thread to reduce the danger of ghost fishing by lost traps. Also to make illegal, the use of undersized lobsters in traps as attractants. Fines and license fees should be used to benefit the sector, financing biological monitoring programs, fisheries patrols and effective administration. In addition ways should be sought under the Labor Laws to protect the rights of fishermen, for instance the divers working in the industrial sector. The current system is failing them. The law now under consideration does already define areas where artesanal and industrial fisheries are allowed, closed seasons, capture quotas, and fishing rights but its wording and coverage needs expert review. Under existing Decrees, the following restrictions on lobster fishing in Nicaragua are included: It is forbidden to catch, process, store, buy, transport, sell or export lobsters which are in the reproductive stage, including gravid females, or those bearing a spermatophore, also those in molt. The capture, processing and commercialisation of lobsters is only allowed of lobsters sized larger than 23 cm (measured from the base of the antennae to the end of the tail) or with a tail size of 13.5 cm, which is equivalent to a minimum tail weight of 5 ounces; A closed season of lobster fishing activities which may include the months of May, June and July; A temporary ban (dated 5 Feb 1993) on the granting of new licenses for industrial level fishing of lobster by means of diving, until other protection measures are put in place. In practice, the laws and regulations for the lobster fishery in the Atlantic are poorly enforced, or not at all. The closed season for lobster fisheries has been suspended since 1992 except for the foreign trapping boats. Undersized lobsters are caught by many fishermen in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) and sold locally at a lower price than lobsters of legal size. There is a lively trade in these undersized lobsters by middlemen in Puerto Cabezas. Gravid females are also caught and traded freely. Reportedly this is not the case in the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) where tight controls in the processing plants have eradicated the problem, so it is evident that enforcement is possible, given the resources, the will and the management.. The Nicaraguan Navy has captured significant numbers of illegal foreign lobster boats in past years, but its activities are currently much curtailed due to lack of operating funds and vessels. Five boats were captured for instance in the second semester of 1997 (although a surprisingly small total of only 767 pounds of lobster was confiscated from all five). 420 incursions by foreign vessels were registered by the Navy in the five year period to 1995 but successful prosecutions were few. In more recent years, lack of diesel is reported to have been a restriction on naval patrol activity in the region. There are two patrol boats based in the south that make occasional visits to the waters around the Miskito Cays but they are generally thought to be ineffective. There was a report that additional vessels have been promised to reinforce the naval fleet on the Atlantic and it is desirable that at least one boat become based at Puerto Cabezas. Even when illegal boats have been captured, the weak fisheries legislation or political pressure have allowed the boats to go free with only minimal penalties being paid and this problem needs to be addressed.. The new Law will also address the requirements for participation in artesanal fisheries. These include i) having Nicaraguan nationality ii) possessing a permit iii) being registered in the National Register of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Although the proposal is laudable there will be some problems in implementation as so many people in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region still do not have an identity card, or even a valid birth certificate. The procedure for regularising their position is lengthy and complex. In addition the Miskito people customarily travel freely between Honduras and Nicaragua without identification papers and indeed without reference to Honduran or Nicaraguan nationality. The process of official registration and receipt of a licence as an artesanal fisherman in Nicaragua may therefore well be drawn out. The lack of regularised nationality can cause problems in other areas. For instance some compensation cases raised by divers paralysed while working in the industrial lobster fisheries have not been resolved in court, because the divers did not possess any proof of their identity or their nationality. The Miskito people often also have several names, or change their names at will. This caused a problem in August 1999 for instance, with the sinking of the lobster dive boat Golden Arrow in which 16 people perished. The procedure to seek compensation was complicated from the start, by the fact that the wives of the lost crew were reluctant to state the names of their husbands. They feared that if their husbands had signed on board under a different name (as was quite possible) the wives would lose any claim to compensation. This kind of issue needs to be taken into consideration when plans are prepared for registration of artesanal fishermen. Changes are needed to the administrative procedures regarding nationalisation if the proposed fisheries laws are to work.. 4.6.2 Honduras Honduras also, does not have a functioning Fisheries Law. The present one dates from 1959 when the fishing industry was small. Its coverage is inadequate for current needs. A planned replacement Law has passed through many reviews, including by numerous foreign legal experts, but still awaits approval. The industry has often brought political pressure to bear to prevent progress of the new legislation. Some powers are conferred on DIGEPESCA, the Fisheries and Aquaculture authority, for the setting of regulations, but even these have been subject to overturn by Presidential Decree in the past, after representations from industry.. Currently there is a closed season for lobster fishing, typically 16 March – 31 July, though with some variation year by year. This is strictly enforced, but is circumvented in a number of ways. Firstly the conch fleet and the fishermen operating traps for fin-fish are exempt and are reported to continue to catch lobsters during the closed season. Secondly Honduran boats with licenses to fish in Nicaragua are understood to come back across the border during the Honduran closed season and take advantage of the national fleet being tied up in port. One Honduran boat owner told the team that on the first voyage after the end of the closed season in early August, his divers found the seabed littered with lobster heads – indicative of some concentrated fishing effort in that area during the closed season. There is a good case (plead also by the Honduran fishing captains themselves) that the closed season should also cover conch and fin-fish trapping activities to have any chance of effectiveness. There is a requirement dating from March 1995 for traps to have an escape panel of 2¼ inches. This is a good measure to protect juveniles but it is reported that although boats leave port with the opening in place, they also carry a bundle of laths which are then used to close the gap before the traps are shot. Tighter supervision of this regulation is needed. Under the same regulation, captains of dive boats are required to undergo a safety training course and inspections are authorised to make sure diver safety is being respected. Under a follow up regulation of December 1995, a minimum capture size of 14.5 cm tail length was set for lobsters. This is a prudent guideline. Honduras has also implemented a number of other measures to improve diver safety. In the December 1995 regulation, it became a requirement for divers "to be equipped with depth gauges and tank contents gauges, oxygen (meaning air) tanks, regulators, masks and fins in “excellent” condition" and also for "compressors and filters to be in 'optimum condition' before sailing". Under a subsequent regulation in October 1996, it was made a requirement for "all diving tanks constructed before 1992 to be hydro-statically tested". This was successfully implemented to the considerable benefit of the Honduran divers. Also for "equipment to be kept in optimum condition, for captains to hire only divers with training certificates (probably not implementable), for captains to ban the use of alcohol and narcotics on board and for them not to require divers to go to unsafe depths". These initiatives are all praiseworthy but need fuller implementation and follow-up to be effective. 4.6.3 General The existing laws and regulations include one tool for sustaining lobster yields - the introduction of a closed season. The minimum size limit for lobsters caught and traded and the ban on the capture of berried females are also good measures for protecting recruitment to the fishery and hence, sustainability. Regulations aimed at protecting recruitment are particularly relevant because the Caribbean Spiny lobster reaches maturity after only approximately 3 years. Sustainable fisheries management needs to be adaptive. Annual lobster production is rarely the same each year. Environmental factors such as currents, temperature and rainfall all influence lobster production. Hurricane "“Gilbert” for instance caused a substantial temporary decline of lobster yields in the Caribbean. The effects on lobster catch in Honduras and Nicaragua of Hurricane “Mitch” might well be substantial if first year recruitment during 1998 was adversely impacted. A sufficiently flexible fisheries management plan is one that is able to change fishing effort according to annual lobster production. Measures to be taken and interventions to be made in the field of fisheries management rely on law, the formulation of decrees, and an ability for their effective execution and enforcement. Action needed for the future sustainable exploitation of the resource The lobster fisheries of Honduras and Nicaragua are of great economic and social importance, generating some US$30 million in exports in each country and providing employment in areas of little alternative economic activity. As the population in the Moskitia has grown and the end of war in the region has allowed an increase in access to the natural resources of the area, the risk of their over-exploitation has become real. Although total lobster landings in the two countries have shown resilience to increased fishing pressure and another key indicator, average size, has shown only a small drop in Nicaragua over the last decade, there is good evidence that catch per unit effort has fallen substantially. In the case of the lobster divers, catch per unit effort may well be half of that observed only five years ago. The regional nature of the population dynamics of the spiny lobster may mean that over-fishing in one area, such as Honduras or Nicaragua, may actually affect catches in other areas rather than Honduras and Nicaragua themselves. However, given the limited current knowledge of the dynamics of this resource, it would be a most short-sighted view to see this as an excuse for lax regulation. The 2-3 year lag time between causing damage to the lobster breeding population and seeing the effects on catches makes it essential that better monitoring systems be put in place, including the collection data of the puerulus fall in the seagrass beds; in the meantime a conservative limit should be set on total catches. In Nicaragua this should probably be at a level of around 3 million pounds of tails, equivalent to the current registered landings. In Honduras the assessment is more difficult given that some of the catch recorded as landed in Honduras may be part of the presumed illegal catch taken in Nicaragua. Another (unknown) portion may contribute to landings registered in Colombia. Improved monitoring, including on the boats out at sea and greater policing, are needed to resolve this question satisfactorily, but the Honduran lobster fleet could probably be justifiably halved in size to greatly increase efficiency yet maintain landings. This is probably politically impossible, but some steady reduction in the fleet should be programmed. The Honduran fleet is almost certainly oversized; if not biologically inefficient, it is certainly economically inefficient. To ease the difficulty of fleet reduction, there may be an opportunity to use some of the larger Honduran trapping vessels to replace smaller Nicaraguan diving boats (see below) given some external financial support. Nicaragua has a simpler solution available to reduce total effort, by eliminating the legal and illegal foreign catch from its territorial waters. The Sandinista government was highly effective in policing its Atlantic coast, indicating that with the necessary political will and resources, illegal fishing could be halted. As the current lost income to illegal fishing is possibly in the range of US$15 million per year, there are clear reasons to put in the necessary resources for effective policing. Such a programme may be able to achieve cost savings by combining fisheries patrol work with anti drug-trafficking initiatives, including the possibility of mounting low cost satellite identification devices on legal vessels so that illegal vessels can be swiftly identified and a boat sent out to challenge them. This might prove a lower cost method of policing than maintaining constant naval patrols along the coast. It is also important to eradicate the capture of undersized lobsters and gravid females. This has been successfully achieved in the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) of Nicaragua by effective supervision in the processing plants, so again it is evident that it can be done given the will, but the reduction in ADPESCA’s funding and staffing levels will need to be reversed before an improvement could be expected. With just one inspector covering all the fisheries responsibilities of the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region, the problem is unlikely to be resolved. A change of attitude towards regulation, enforcement and the adequate funding and empowerment of the legally constituted fisheries authority are also needed in the Honduran industry. In Nicaragua, the coastal communities have already demonstrated their ability to manage the fishing activities within the 40-45 km radius Miskito Cays Reserve13 and this strength should be built upon. A recommendation for establishing a management council for the Atlantic Lobster resource has been put forward as long ago as 19936 and the merit of the proposal still stands. Community based management with representation from stakeholders such as industrial fleet boat owners, processing plant owners, artesanal fishermen and divers, community leaders and government would have a good chance of successfully managing the resource, given the already strong community structures in the Moskitia. Within any future review, consideration should also be given to defining the Reserve based on depth contours rather than the present arbitrary 80-90 km diameter circle. The 10 fathom line for instance, would give an area approximately equal in size to that of the existing reserve but would have a stronger biological rationale and be simpler to police, depth being more easily measured than geographic position at sea. (see Fig.10). There would be a case also for banning all lobster fishing below the 5 fathom line to protect the smallest sized lobsters, delimiting certain zones close to the 5 fathom limit for lung divers (as is now done for Deadman’s Spot) and allowing only artesanal SCUBA divers in the 5-10 fathom area. It should be the responsibility of the coastal artesanal fishing communities to monitor exploitation of the part of the resource under their control and to set limits on catch and effort with the assistance of government scientists. The communities are clearly already concerned about the sustainability of their resource and the team believes that such a community based management plan could work effectively, if given the necessary support. Part of the support needed, will be in the enforcement of the limits of the reserve and the prevention of entry of industrial fishing vessels. The industrial fleet should be assisted to change from diving to trapping. In fact there is considerable interest amongst the boat owners already to do this; the obstacles are the difficulty of financing the change over of equipment, the need for larger vessels with sufficient deck space to handle economic numbers of traps (the Honduran boats are larger and can handle twice as many traps as the Nicaraguan boats) and the problem of finding other suitable work for their divers. These issues are not easily resolved, but such a changeover is desirable as it is in the industrial diving fleet that most diving accidents are occurring. As catch rates fall there will be a tendency for the boats to work deeper and with longer diver submersion times. This will inevitably lead to more accidents even if the proposed initiatives to improve diver training and equipment maintenance are developed. In addition, a changeover to trapping will make it easier for the industrial fleet to avoid fishing in the shallower waters around 10 fathoms, thus leaving these for the artesanal divers. Fig.10: THE MOSKITO CAYS RESERVE The trapping of undersized lobster is to no-one’s long term benefit and it should be eradicated by effective policing in the processing plants and on-board ship and through education. Honduras already has a 2¼ inch gap requirement for traps although it is largely circumvented. Nicaragua does not yet have the necessary regulation in place. It would also be desirable to have escape panels tied in with dissolving thread in all traps to avoid the damaging problem of ghost fishing by lost or abandoned traps. For similar reasons applications to use metal wire traps should continue to be resisted by the licensing authorities.
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