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I agree with Jack, but would also like to add one point, the more
equipment/training that is supplied to the local community for lobster
diving the more proficient they will become in diving lobsters: GOOD?
NO, the lobster population will not be able to withstand the pressure and
in a couple of years (if that long) the resource will not be sustainable and
the whole industry will crash. The problem than will be that the local
community will have no other skills or industry to fall back on.
I don't know enough about the situation to provide a solution but I believe
that the communities dependance on the lobster fishery should be
reduced by diversification.
What's next? Providing the community with TRIMIX courses and
equipment to dive lobster at greater depths as the resource within the
bounds of air diving is now also depleted beyond sustainable limits?
Please do not think that I am not sympathetic to the cause but I would like
to see a long term solution to the problem as opposed to a short term
one.
Cheers
Heath Thorpe
Integrated Environmental Management
>>> Jack Edelstein <jyed@um*.ed*> 30/May/1996 03:49pm >>>
Having read several messages related to the fundraiser for a
decompression chamber to serve Misqito Indians, I wish to challenge the
underlying assumption or your mission -- i.e. that a chamber will be of
benefit to this community. Here is a synopsis of the situation as I
understand it: Having depleted the lobster population that is in freediving
range (no scuba, max 80-100 feet), the Misqito Indians have been
obtained scuba equipment so that they can go deeper for the lobster.
Not being properly trained in scuba, many contract the bends and are
paralyed for life (or die). A chamber, it is argued, would help solve this
problem. My question: wouldn't it be more effective to help these
communities develop sustainable forms of lobster harvesting, thereby
enabling resumption of freediving? Or, if scuba is still preferred, why not
offer workshops and training on dive tables and safety? It seems to me
that a chamber might offer a false sense of security, driving divers even
deeper and longer. Also, I recall reading that another chamber that was
donated by SOS in
Hunduras(?) is not working because it has no engine? How does SOS
plan on assuring that the one for Nicaragua will operate?
I hope that I am not offending anyone, and please don't interpret my
comments as criticism of your sincere desire to help. I'm just wondering
if your approach is really going to work, or just cause more serious
problems.
Jack Edelstein, Ph.D.
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