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Fishing in the Mosquitia region is very risky because of the lack of equipment and information given to divers. AFP Photos / Orlando Sierra

In Honduras, fishing for lobster can cost lives. In early July, 27 fishermen died in the sinking of a ship. In the region of Mosquitia, in the east of the country, there are thousands to depend on this precarious activity where diving accidents are quickly arrived.

With our correspondent in Honduras, Clara Losi

Every year on July 1st, thousands of fishermen start a new season of lobster fishing. Among them, many are recruited from the poorest populations and fishing is their main source of income for the year.

Decompression accidents

Teleth Bell was one of those divers willing to do anything to multiply his catches. But in 1980, he suffered a decompression sickness that paralyzed his legs and forced him to walk on crutches: " Today, I am extremely poor, I was completely abandoned, and I have not nothing. We are very very badly. We do not receive any help from either the owner of the boat or the government. Since my accident, I can only rely on God. "

Like Teleth Bell, hundreds of fishermen find themselves paralyzed as a result of too deep or too repetitive dives. When they rise too quickly on the surface of the water, gaseous bubbles form in their body, and cause serious muscular and cerebral lesions. The main problem is the hardware. It is often too rudimentary and uncontrolled.

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There is also a lack of prevention among divers and also schedules that are not always respected by employers, according to Carlos Leiba, director of the center for the study and promotion of human rights in Honduras.

" The government is reactive, but it does not take any preventive measures for the divers of the Mosquitia, who go fishing without worrying about anything, summarizes Carlos Leiba. How is it that out of 9,000 people there are 4,200 who are sick or paralyzed, how is it possible ? It is inevitably that there is no control or prevention on the boats and for the people working on these boats. "

Not enough adapted hospitals

According to the latest official statistics, dating back to 2004, nearly half of professional divers suffered from a disability related to a decompression sickness accident. A syndrome that can be quickly managed in the hospital, but the treatments are expensive and many stop before having recovered.

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Carlos Leiba deplores the lack of adequate infrastructure in the region and accuses the state of inaction: " Our government invests heavily in weapons, police and armed forces, but it would not cost them anything to invest in hospital or health center for this group of people that counts for the country's economy. "

A poorly paid job

There, the shrimp fishery is the most important economic resource, making up the majority of the region's exports. For half a kilo of lobster, fishermen receive on average 3 dollars.

A salary far too low, according to Filmor Kiath Martinez, activist and spokesman for disabled divers in the region: " The price of the products they fish is very low, that's why divers suffer to find something to support their families They go every morning to do a very painful job, and that's how accidents happen almost every day, even as soon as a boat leaves Honduras. "

Since 2004, the Local Association of Disabled Divers has been lobbying for recognition of divers' working conditions with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2009, a Commission on the prevention of underwater fishing problems was born, but accidents are still very numerous. At the Mosquitia, 18 to 24 fishermen are hospitalized every month.