US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA444

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000444 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
GUATEMALA FOR COMATT: MLARSEN 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, OES:JStory 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIS, SENV, ETRD, ECON, HO 
SUBJECT: HONDURAS: FEAR OF DECERTIFICATION KEEPS TEDS 
PROGRAM ON TRACK 
 
REF:  A) State 19139 
 
      B) Tegucigalpa 1786 and previous 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: On February 8, EconOff met with Vice 
Minister of Agriculture German Perez to discuss the findings 
of the December 2004 verification visit conducted by 
personnel of the Department of State and National Marine 
Fisheries Service (NMFS).  Perez was pleased to learn that 
the verification team found the majority of Honduran vessels 
examined were using TEDs (Turtle Excluder Devices) as 
required by U.S. law.  However, his comments, as well as 
those of some of the TEDs inspectors themselves in a 
separate meeting, made it clear that it is the threat of 
another U.S. decertification, rather than the actions and 
fines of GOH inspectors, that is doing the most to keep the 
Honduran shrimping fleet in compliance with TEDs 
regulations.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) On February 8, EconOff met with Vice Minister of 
Agriculture and Livestock German Perez to deliver and 
discuss the results (ref A) of the verification visit 
conducted in December 2004 by personnel of OES and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).  While 
acknowledging the validity of the criticisms contained in 
the report, Perez was also clearly pleased with the positive 
results of the visit and with the recommendation that 
Honduras retain its certification. 
 
3. (U) According to Perez, the reason for many of the 
problems shown by some boats as noted in the report (such as 
the inadequate cut measurements, insufficient overlap on the 
double cover, and brace bars on the wrong side of the grid) 
is that some Honduran fishermen build their own TEDs rather 
than buying them from the United States, to save money.  As 
a result, they sometimes construct TEDs which do not quite 
meet the standards in every respect.  Perez promised that in 
the future, inspectors will be stricter about these details 
when conducting their pre-season checks before the boats go 
out to sea. 
 
4. (U) Perez confirmed that the new regulations for TEDs 
which went into effect in August 2004 (ref B) were conveyed 
to APESCA (the private sector fishermen's association) at 
that time, and are being enforced by DIGEPESCA (the fishing 
office within the Ministry of Agriculture, which employs the 
inspectors).  However, Perez acknowledged that there has 
been no change made to Honduran fishing law itself, which 
essentially says only "Use TEDs," without defining what a 
TED is.  Perez said that, in order to make the regulations 
more official, the Ministry will issue a decree with the new 
regulations within the next few weeks.  He also added that a 
new fishing law is currently being drafted which will 
include all recent regulations regarding TEDs (which have 
been promulgated by decree only), and thus give them greater 
permanence than they have now. 
 
5. (U) Regarding the reports that some inspectors are having 
their salaries advanced and augmented by private fishing 
interests, Perez seemed to take this as evidence of the 
active involvement that APESCA is showing in the enforcement 
of TEDs regulations.  Both the Ministry of Agriculture and 
APESCA are acutely aware that incompliance would lead to 
decertification, said Perez, and that "a third 
decertification would be fatal."  He also stated that TEDs 
inspectors are already the best paid inspectors in 
DIGEPESCA.  He mentioned that 70% of the fines collected go 
to DIGEPESCA's own budget, and suggested that the entire 
TEDs inspection program could become self-financing if there 
were a greater number of violations. 
 
-------------------------------- 
The Pervasive Risk of Corruption 
-------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) EconOff also took the opportunity of the visit to 
raise with Vice Minister Perez a recent article in the 
Honduran press which alleged that undersized lobster are 
being caught and sold in Honduras.  The article quotes Pedro 
Marcio Castellon, director of DIGEPESCA, as saying that the 
inspectors "let things happen that they shouldn't" because 
they are very badly paid.  Perez admitted that the 
information in the article is probably correct, and pointed 
out that an inspector earning 15,000 Lempira (about $800) 
per month will always be vulnerable to a bribe when he is 
about to impose a fine of 50,000 Lempira (about $2670) on a 
fisherman.  Establishing higher fines for violations would 
not solve the problem, in fact it would increase the risk of 
corruption, as the higher the fine imposed on the fisherman, 
the greater the financial incentive for the fisherman to 
bribe the inspector to look the other way.  Perez half-joked 
that inspectors can receive technical capacity building, but 
that there's no such thing as moral capacity building. 
(Comment: Given that Perez's figure of 15,000 Lempira per 
month as the salary of an inspector is much higher than what 
inspectors have told EconOff they actually earn, this 
vulnerability is greater still.  End comment.) 
 
-------------------- 
The Inspectors' View 
-------------------- 
 
7. (SBU) On February 15, EconOff met with four TEDs 
inspectors from DIGEPESCA.  This was the second time in the 
past several months that DIGEPESCA inspectors have contacted 
EconOff directly and requested a meeting to convey concerns 
about their salaries, benefits, and treatment.  The 
inspectors admitted that APESCA "helps" them by providing 
them with money to supplement their per diem (which, 
according to the inspectors, is both too low to live on and 
slow to be paid, leaving the inspectors out-of-pocket for 
several months after an inspection).  They acknowledged that 
APESCA should not be doing this, but denied that it has an 
impact on the integrity of their inspections.  The 
inspectors did report, however, that low salaries have led 
to attrition among the trained inspectors.  Of the 11 TEDs 
inspectors who received training from OES and NMFS personnel 
who visited Honduras in December 2003, only 8 are still 
working as TEDs inspectors - one has moved to a different 
job within DIGEPESCA, and two have left DIGEPESCA entirely. 
 
8. (SBU) The inspectors also said that they have received no 
written guarantee that their jobs will be preserved next 
January when a new Presidential administration takes office. 
Traditionally, new administrations have replaced nearly all 
employees of the previous administration with new people, a 
practice which has had a destructive impact on the GOH's 
TEDs program in the past.  In short, while the inspectors 
agreed that the Honduran shrimping fleet is largely in 
compliance with TEDs regulations for the time being, they do 
not feel that Honduras' TEDs inspection program is 
established on a firm foundation. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Comment: Decertification, Not Fines, the Real Deterrent 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
9. (SBU) Comment:  Post concurs with the OES and NMFS 
verification team's findings that the majority of Honduran 
shrimping vessels are using TEDs in compliance with USG 
regulations.  However, it is increasingly clear to Post, and 
was made clear yet again by EconOff's conversations with 
Vice Minister Perez and with the inspectors, that the real 
deterrent keeping Honduran fishermen in compliance with TEDs 
regulations is not the fines imposed by the GOH, nor an 
altruistic concern for the well-being of sea turtles, but 
the threat of a possible third decertification by the USG. 
For this reason, continued USG attention is vital for the 
continued success of the GOH's sea turtle protection 
program.  End comment. 
 
Palmer