Honduran men, dying & becoming paralyzed diving for lobsters to sell to Americans

[Liberal_in_LA]

Dying and disabled in Honduras, in pursuit of lobster to sell to U.S.
Americans should know that every time they eat the lobster, there is a history behind that lobster," said Dr. Elmer Mejia.

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Thousands of men have become permanently disabled working in the unsafe and poorly regulated lobster industry in Honduras. They dive at depths of up to 120 feet with air tanks that rarely have pressure gauges to warn them when their supply is running low. The divers then bolt to the surface when they're running out of air, which can result in severe decompression sickness and in some cases, paralysis.

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"It's incredibly dangerous what they are doing. They are diving so far beyond anything that we would consider to be within acceptable limits," said Eric Douglas, who writes about diving safety and has studied the Miskito divers along with Dr. Mejia. "They are poorly trained. They are poorly equipped," said Douglas. "They have none of the basic things that divers today would consider mandatory equipment- pressure gauges, alternate air sources, even a buoyancy control vest to help them float underwater without effort."

These men dive as many as 16 times a day, and sometimes ignore their difficulty breathing to attempt to catch one more lobster.

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In a dilapidated one-room house, Wilmur Mauricio Sambola lay dying. He was paralyzed from the chest down while diving for lobster and he was suffering from a severe infection caused by his illness. Mejia had treated Sambola ten months earlier and knew that his injuries were severe, but he was still shocked to see how rapidly he had deteriorated.

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/18/8864856-dying-and-disabled-in-honduras-in-pursuit-of-lobster-to-sell-to-us?google_editors_picks=true

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Oh God, that's horrible.

Get Maine lobsters and avoid the sadness.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. yes. I had no idea this was happening until I read the article.

:-(

[eShirl]

3. I don't think we could even find non-Maine lobsters up here if we wanted to.

And we don't want to.

[eShirl]

4. Manny used the word I would to describe it: horrible

there has to be a better way, somehow

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. really horrific - Thousands have become disabled!

[postulater]

5. Didn't know this.

[edhopper]

6. They are more crawfish than lobsters

Very different from the Maine lobster. Not sure where they are used. Probably by chains like Red Lobster.

I am very sure the big companies that buy them will stop at once as soon as they learn their actions cause such suffering to others.
:sarcasm:

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. it does look like a crawfish

[edhopper]

9. It's like the ones we caught in Florida

when I was growing up. We never called them lobsters.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. I had little ones in my fish tank. they are sold at pet stores. violent things that

killed my fish.

[Sal Minella]

11. Aren't they called "mudbugs" in Louisiana???

[1620rock]

12. Yes. Bugs because they are little.