Dangerous dives for Caribbean Spiny Lobster

The document highlights the severe social and environmental costs of Caribbean Spiny Lobster fishing in Central America. It details how the demand for live lobsters has driven divers, particularly from the Miskito Indigenous community, to dive deeper and more frequently, leading to widespread decompression sickness, paralysis, and death. The report notes that while Honduras and Nicaragua are the largest producers in Central America, both face challenges with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the failure to implement bans on dangerous diving practices. It further discusses the 'Miskito standards' established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights following a 2021 ruling against Honduras for failing to oversee private companies in the deep diving industry.

• Nicaragua and Honduras are the top two lobster producers in Central America, with Nicaragua averaging over 4,800 tonnes per year and Honduras averaging over 3,700 tonnes per year for trap and dive fisheries.
• The preference for live lobsters has increased the use of diving (buceo) over traps, forcing divers to go deeper and stay underwater longer to find marketable sizes, resulting in dozens of Miskito divers dying from decompression sickness and hundreds being paralyzed over 30 years.
• The lobster fishery in Nicaragua and Honduras is plagued by environmental issues, including the likelihood of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and a lack of data regarding bycatch, stock status, and the impact of traps on coral reefs.
• In 2022, Honduras and Nicaragua exported 228.47 tonnes of rock lobster and sea crawfish to the EU, valued at EUR 8,228,050, with Belgium, Spain, and France acting as the primary importing Member States.
• The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) ruled in 2021 that Honduras failed to oversee private companies in the deep diving lobster industry, establishing the 'Miskito standards' based on UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

APA

ClientEarth (2023). Dangerous dives for Caribbean Spiny Lobster. https://www.clientearth.org/media/yvmnww41/1955-seafood-industry-graphics_lobster_stage-04-4.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Dangerous dives for Caribbean Spiny Lobster. 2023. https://www.clientearth.org/media/yvmnww41/1955-seafood-industry-graphics_lobster_stage-04-4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Dangerous dives for Caribbean Spiny Lobster |date=July 2023 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/yvmnww41/1955-seafood-industry-graphics_lobster_stage-04-4.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2023dangerous, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Dangerous dives for Caribbean Spiny Lobster}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/yvmnww41/1955-seafood-industry-graphics_lobster_stage-04-4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }