10/05/2021 Lobster exports in Nicaragua grew 34 percent between 2015 and 2019; the most productive zone is the Caribbean coast, part of the territory of the indigenous communities of the Miskitu, Sumu-Mayangna, Rama and Ulwa peoples, and of Afro-descendants, such as the Creole and Garífuna.
In this area, artisanal and commercial lobster catch is carried out with the use of wood-based structures in the form of cages traditionally called "nasas", which are submerged and laid on the sea floor for six to nine months. However, the manufacture of these cages puts pressure on the native forest by requiring thousands of cubic metres of wood each year.
Due to the effects of climate change and the growth in demand, lobster catching areas are increasingly further from the coast, and diving accidents, especially due to arterial gas embolism, have become one of the main causes of disability in the regions where lobster fishing takes place.
To promote the sustainability of lobster fishing, FAO, the Nicaraguan Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INPESCA), the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID) and the Mesoamerica Hunger Free Programme developed a South-South cooperation project to improve the occupational safety of fishers and increase the sustainability of lobster fishing on the northern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.
The process involved Mexican fishers from indigenous communities, women traders of fishery products (called “pikineras”), several companies, universities and local government entities. Together, they worked to analyse, validate and disseminate two new, more sustainable technologies for catching lobster: “artificial shelters” and “collapsible traps”.
The artificial shelters are structures that provide refuge for lobsters, mainly in those places with little availability of natural refuge, creating ripe conditions for the lobster to find food and develop. They were designed based on the observation of natural refuges, the movements of lobsters and their eating habits.
In fisheries they are used to create new fishing sites and to increase production in traditional fishing sites. They also improve and facilitate the harvesting, bringing the fishing grounds closer towards the coast, or moving the lobsters to more accessible sites.
The collapsible traps are structures with frames built from corrugated iron rods and lined with a tarred silk net. They are used to catch lobster in deep waters.
This type of fishing gear is widely used in the Yucatan Platform, in Mexico, from where the experience has been copied. The principle of the collapsible trap is based on attracting the lobster using the smell of the bait; its greatest benefit is that it can be used in more than one annual fishing activity.
The use of these traps and shelters contributes significantly to reducing direct and indirect production costs, increasing the profit margin of those who survive on this activity.
The use of these technologies reduces fishing accidents due to diving, lowers the pressure on forest clearing, reduces waste on fishing grounds and increases the sustainability of the resource by reducing “ghost fishing”, which is what occurs when lost or discarded fishing gear is left in the ocean and traps fish or other forms of marine life, indiscriminately killing everything they catch.
Direct benefits and cost reduction
For the people who live from lobster fishing, the use of these new technologies means direct benefits through the reduction of the costs of catching. Companies have introduced new sales presentations to international markets such as whole, precooked and live lobsters.
According to a two-decade experience in Mexico, the cultural, technological, economic and social transition towards the full use of these technologies is a slow maturing process. It is necessary to adapt the practices to the specific conditions of the fishing grounds of the Nicaraguan coast, to build a common vision of the development strategy for the supply chain, to communicate the advantages and feasibility of the methods used, and establish the regulatory framework.
The new capture technologies, tested by INPESCA with technical assistance from FAO, and the support of Mexican entities through AMEXCID, are being applied by universities and artisanal fishers. Likewise, alliances have been established with private companies to develop trials in commercial fishing operations, essential for their implementation on an industrial scale.
This experience makes an important contribution to the sustainability and development of the lobster fishing value chain in the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (RACCN); at the same time that it has consolidated an efficient methodological process for South-South cooperation.
