"We don't want trade with Taiwan to stop," said Lorena de Jesus Zelaya, 51, commenting on last month's severance of diplomatic relations with the nationalist island to Beijing.

With her, some 800 other women are working to pack the shrimp frozen in a factory in Choluceta (85 km south of Tegucigalpa) and leave in refrigerated containers for Taiwan, Mexico and Europe.

Leftist President Xiomara Castro's Honduras is the fifth Central American country to break with the island in Central America. Now, only 13 states in the world still have official relations with Taiwan.

In the name of the principle of "One China" imposed by Beijing, Honduras has pledged to "no longer have official relations" with Taiwan, which seems to sound the death knell of the free trade agreement with the nationalist island in force since 2008.

Almost exclusively women are employed to shell shrimp for export, in Choluteca, 85 km south of Tegucigalpa, April 4, 2023 © Orlando SIERRA / AFP

In workwear -- apron, hat and rubber boots -- Lorena de Jesus told AFP she "has been working for 31 years" in the shrimp sector, which exports more than a third of its production to Taiwan for some $100 million.

The shrimp are farmed in large artificial basins supplied with seawater from the nearby Gulf of Fonseca. Launched in the 1970s, shrimp farming has flourished since then: now 324 farms occupy more than 24,500 hectares in the region.

Taiwan pays double that of China

"Losing the Taiwan market, for Honduras, which is a producing country, is very complicated: Taiwan is a high-value market, where our shrimp sell for almost double the price of China," says Yader Rodriguez, one of the sector's business leaders.

Shrimp ponds in Choluteca, 85 km south of Tegucigalpa © / AFP

"We are very worried about what may happen with this political decision" to break with the nationalist island, insists the 46-year-old business leader.

It is true that the sector accounts for about 23,000 direct jobs between livestock and packing and shipping plants, and even at least six times more if indirect jobs are counted.

Already, the National Association of Fish Farmers of Honduras has been able to express, in several meetings with the authorities, its fears that Taiwan will simply refuse to buy shrimp from the small Central American country now.

The association, says its president Juan Carlos Javier, asked that the government write a letter to Taiwan asking for the continuation of trade relations despite the severance of diplomatic relations.

"The government is listening and is willing to look for solutions," Javier said.

Frozen shrimp ready for export, in Choluteca, 85 km south of Tegucigalpa, April 04, 2023 © Orlando SIERRA / AFP

"All the families are worried (...) because of this (commercial) treaty that we want to break," said Carlos Abrego, 28, who works for a company in the sector.

"We are really very worried because, where we live, losing a job or suffering a loss of salary is very serious," said Pedro Antonio Martinez, a 34-year-old worker who feeds shrimp on a farm.

Shrimp is Honduras' fifth largest agri-food export, after coffee, bananas, sugar and palm oil. Last year, the country's total exports amounted to $6.1 billion, including nearly $130 million to Taiwan.

© 2023 AFP