What would you like to share at the Our Ocean conference about your municipalities and artisanal fisheries?

In Iriona, we have the seven Garífuna communities of artisanal fishermen looking for solutions to their needs, mainly to the challenges of artisanal fishing.  

The declaration of the 12 nautical miles ensures that natural resources exist in the marine area for food security for present and future generations in the municipality of Iriona to benefit 1,500 families. As municipalities, we support the community proposals, and in this case, those of the artisanal fishermen, and we promise to support them in the management of this area.  

Financial inclusion through savings clubs improves the economy of the families of artisanal fishermen. We have created 11 savings clubs, with 264 families benefiting from this initiative. We are making the economy more dynamic, and these invested resources remain longer in the municipality.

What does fishing mean to your community?

It means the whole life of our artisanal fishermen. Food is ensured every day on the tables by generating income through the commercialization of their products obtained from artisanal fishing.

What is the biggest challenge facing anglers today?

The main challenge is the scarcity of resources. There is no resource control over marine resources at the national level. Fishermen have to row many hours out to sea to get these resources. As a result of industrial fishing in the area, resources are running out.  

Fishermen have to fish inland or move to other fishing banks and other municipalities. Industrial fishing takes the communities' food as they drag their nets and pots, taking everything.  

Through the declaration of the marine zone of Iriona and Limón, we, the mayors, commit to supporting the communities of artisanal fishermen so that the industry does not fish in artisanal fishing waters.  

What can mayors and local leaders around the world achieve by working together?

We can achieve better results in securing the families that live from artisanal fishing and improve the quality of life of each family in this area. If we all work for the common good, we will achieve the development of our communities and comprehensive management of marine resources.

Through our network of mayors, we can share experiences of what we are doing and how we can replicate it. We can also become a common front to influence central governments to make decisions favoring artisanal fishing and local communities.

What do you want global leaders to know about small-scale fishers and coastal communities?

Honduras is a benchmark at the national level for being a pioneer in granting rights to artisanal fishermen in my municipality and the rest of the municipalities of the Commonwealth of Garífuna Municipalities of Honduras.  

Artisanal fishermen exist, and they are a vulnerable, forgotten sector that many governments do not take into account. They are made invisible. Since I started working on this process, I realized they are violated. I did not know about the risks of the activities that fishermen carry out in the sea, nor to everything they are exposed to. Sometimes it's nice to be served a fish dish at the table, but we don't realize how that fish got to our table. We don't know all the risks these fishermen take to bring us that food. We have not stopped to think about all this. For artisanal fishermen to achieve great changes in their lives, we must know how to listen to their problems and the solutions.