GULF OF FONSECA OR “DEAD GULF”?
For decades, the arrest of traditional fisherfolk in the Gulf
of Fonseca, shared by El Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua, has been used as an excuse by these governments to deflect public scrutiny from
their internal problems. Declarations and
threats in “defense of their sovereignty” result in “Joint Declarations” where
they offer to turn the Gulf into a paradise of brotherhood.
of Fonseca, shared by El Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua, has been used as an excuse by these governments to deflect public scrutiny from
their internal problems. Declarations and
threats in “defense of their sovereignty” result in “Joint Declarations” where
they offer to turn the Gulf into a paradise of brotherhood.
And the fisherfolk?
They are arrested once again, robbed, wounded, and even
murdered.
murdered.
With an area slightly larger than three thousand square
kilometers, the Gulf provides sustenance to thousands of fishing families and
fish traders. Meanwhile, the surrounding watersheds are mismanaged and they
drain pesticides and polluting nutrients onto the coasts. The shrimp
aquaculture industry destroys billions of individual native species in various
stages of development as they are trapped by hundreds of suction pumps. The
polluted waters of shrimp farms and “larval laboratories” go straight towards
the estuaries and the sea, affecting biodiversity in the mangroves and
waterways that are themselves being destroyed, not only by the shrimp farms,
but by sugarcane fields, melon farms, and others.
kilometers, the Gulf provides sustenance to thousands of fishing families and
fish traders. Meanwhile, the surrounding watersheds are mismanaged and they
drain pesticides and polluting nutrients onto the coasts. The shrimp
aquaculture industry destroys billions of individual native species in various
stages of development as they are trapped by hundreds of suction pumps. The
polluted waters of shrimp farms and “larval laboratories” go straight towards
the estuaries and the sea, affecting biodiversity in the mangroves and
waterways that are themselves being destroyed, not only by the shrimp farms,
but by sugarcane fields, melon farms, and others.
The fisherfolk are ever growing in numbers and their fishing
gear is becoming more lethal. The nets
have no limits and are doubled-up to keep small species from escaping. The gunpowder explodes in the
estuaries that are also crossed from shore
to shore by “fishing bags.” Marine species cross “without regard” the national borders. Fisherfolk are right behind them and
right behind them in turn are the authorities
who arrest them without giving them receipts for the confiscated catch, gear, and fine, while they violate their
human rights.
gear is becoming more lethal. The nets
have no limits and are doubled-up to keep small species from escaping. The gunpowder explodes in the
estuaries that are also crossed from shore
to shore by “fishing bags.” Marine species cross “without regard” the national borders. Fisherfolk are right behind them and
right behind them in turn are the authorities
who arrest them without giving them receipts for the confiscated catch, gear, and fine, while they violate their
human rights.
Most of the arrests are made within the gulf itself, and
this is why national borders need to be
clearly marked. But what would be more advisable is the joint execution of an Integrated Management Plan for Coastal
Resources. This way arrests could be avoided,
fisheries could recover, and the death throes of the Gulf could be stopped, a gulf that is becoming a “Dead
Gulf.”
this is why national borders need to be
clearly marked. But what would be more advisable is the joint execution of an Integrated Management Plan for Coastal
Resources. This way arrests could be avoided,
fisheries could recover, and the death throes of the Gulf could be stopped, a gulf that is becoming a “Dead
Gulf.”
The disputed use of the
gulf¹s mouth to the Pacific Ocean by Honduras must be dealt with without delay
in the Security Council of the United Nations, and if necessary with Nicaragua
in the Haya international Court. The solution is in diplomacy, not in the armed
forces. It¹s outrageous to see how some governments adjust their laws so that
they can hand over their natural resources, roads, harbors and other
infrastructure to transnational companies and small local groups of wealthy individual
people, while they attack the general population whose common problem is
poverty, and who, in the end, are only those that need careful sustainable
development, not an arms build-up.
Jorge Varela Márquez
International Goldman Prize, 1999