Video: Diving Too Deep

[Dave1981]

Lobesters are hardly unsustainable, so many of them stay below scuba limits it's unlikely a bunch of fishermen are going to impact that too much.

If you're willing to get bent to catch food I say let them have it, that's hard times.

 

[deadly_risk]

The site is only good for those in the USA, not outside of it.

Try this one:
Diving Too Deep - Part 1 // Current

 

[Mike Boswell]

Up to 15 dives per day, dives up to 130 feet, no timer, no air gauge, nothing but a tank and regulator. Appalling.

 

[graywhale]

That is a great video. For those outside the US, go directly to Current.com, click under videos and Vanguard Journalism and find the video there, should be there.

 

[ScoobaDood]

I have to say that I am seriously torn on this one. I cannot even count the number of times I have prepared lobster that was from Nicaragua. Part of me says wow, I should not buy that anymore because I am supporting this dangerous lifestyle. On the otherhand, if I stop buying it, I put these guys out of work. I am glad they have placed the moritorium on lobster fishing, but the reality is they need proper dive training, and proper dive gear. I could not imagine doing 12-16 dives a day at any depth, and then add in their depths of 130' +....wow!

Very sad indeed.

 

[DandyDon]

It is indeed a sad case, comparable to thousands of other sad stories around the world, like: Dirty water kills more people than war: UN - thestar.com How much of the world can we fix?

It's more of a national problem, as compared to Belize for example which allows lobster harvesting only by free-diving, no SCUBA, still dangerous enough - but how much can we try to "correct" the practices in other countries? The locals are aware of the risks, the outcomes, etc - but some still do it.

Then if we fix clean water and sewage problems around the world, malaria, dangerous mining practices, dangerous diving, etc, how do we "fix" cultures based on having as many children as possible to ensure some will survive to tend to the elderly once we protect them from themselves and their environments, even their governments? Oh and there is that church thing.

Back to these lobster ships: It would be nice if the ships would restrict divers to fewer dives, provide Spgs, and carry chambers - but that's not within the nation's goals I don't think.

 

[Rhone Man]

My slightly random thoughts on various issues are:

• Caribbean spiny lobster grow like weeds provided you stick to some basic rules (don't take females with eggs or undersized lobster). Bahamas and Florida have proved you can harvest huge amounts if you do it sustainably.
• People in poor countries do desperate things to survive. Better this than the solutions that some other people employ in Jamaica and Haiti.
• It seems to me the problems are heavily exacerbated by divers waiting as long as they can before going to the chamber. If it was possible to make chamber treatment available on a less costly basis (ie. free) that could help a lot (although it would encourage risk taking).
• It is actually the lack of DCS incidents that astonishes me, given the profiles. It reminds me of Mark Powell's book when he was talking about pearl divers in the Pacific who were doing 5 dives a day to 180 feet, but not getting bent using some archaic tables that suggested on every Western alogrithm that they ought to be dead or dying. It would be really nice to know why.

 

[DandyDon]

It seems to me the problems are heavily exacerbated by divers waiting as long as they can before going to the chamber. If it was possible to make chamber treatment available on a less costly basis (ie. free) that could help a lot (although it would encourage risk taking).

I think the video said that they could not go to a chamber until the ship returned full. Could put chambers on the ships but not going to happen.

But you're right. The more we try to save them from themselves, the more they will push the limits.

 

[Crush]

This link works in Canada - Diving Too Deep: Vanguard on Gawkk

 

[Mike Boswell]

This situation is in large part due to commercial fishing companies who are maximizing profits and ignoring the health and safety of their employees. Although many of the problems could be solved by better equipment and training, the people who own and run these companies only care about the money.

The only solution is to provide incentives and/or disincentives for businessmen, forcing them to do the right thing. The negative publicity created by this video will hopefully awaken US consumers to the fact that their lobster dinner may have cost a poor man his health or his life.