Haiti – Dominican Republic - Disasters and Conflicts - UNEP

Case study 6. Cooperation between fishermen associationsOn the Haitian side, a capacity building project started in 2007 has supported the development of 40 fisheriesassociations in the South East Department, which collectively cover 90% of the fishing population 280 . The associationclosest to the border is APPA (Asosyasyon pechè pou pwoteksyon ak anviwonman Anse a Pit), based in Anse-à-Pitre.The association consists of 100 fishermen and owns five fishing boats, one trammel fishing net, as well as a generatorand batteries in order to fish at night. To be able to use this equipment and benefit from support and assistance incase of equipment damage or illness/death in the family, each member has to give 5% of the income coming fromtheir catch to the association.On the Dominican side of the border, in Pedernales, the fishermen association “Asociation Pescadores AgustinMunoz”, has existed for 12 years, and today has 100 members. This association today works in close cooperationwith its Haitian counterpart, and has formalized the cooperation between Haitian and Dominican fishermen to includetransfer of information and knowledge of fishing techniques.The cooperation between the fishermen associations have also resulted in the banning of the sale of the smallestsize fishes on the bi-national market, and on-going work on trying to increase the mesh size used in fishing nets. TheDominican association has, furthermore, worked as a contact and dispute resolution mechanism between Haitianfishermen and Dominican authorities, iffor example a Haitian fishing boat hasbeen seized by Dominican authorities.This formal agreement between thetwo associations is reported to haveimproved relations between Haitian andDominican fishermen considerably. 281Fishermen’s associations on both sidesof the border in the cities of Pedernalesand Anse-à-Pitre work together on issuesrelated to sharing of best practice andfishing techniques, dispute resolution andtrade.energy.© UNEP7.7 Contamination of estuaries,coastal lagoons, and the seaMost of the pollution in the border zone’s coastsand estuaries comes in the form of householdwaste from cities. Ouanaminthe, Dajabon, andMontecristi are the most significant in the northerncoastal zone; Pedernales and Anse-à-Pitre arethe most significant cities in the southern coastalzone. Similarly Lakes Azuei and Enriquillo are polluted– via the watersheds that drain into them – bythe inhabitants of cities and villages, and by thetraders and customers at the binational markets.The condition of the lakes is a lot worse than that ofthe rivers or the coast for the simple reason that thelakes do not drain, causing a sustained increasein contamination.Water pollution in the border zone is essentiallyorganic and is usually domestic or industrialsewage. However, the water ways also suffer asphosphorated detergents, fertilizers, pesticides,and herbicides drain into them from cleared andirrigated, agricultural land, as well as from runoffafter fires or tree felling.The mining developments that are anticipated inthe border zone could represent a chemical threat,particularly if the use of chemicals in extractionprocesses remains unregulated. Special attentionmust be given to the organometallic compoundsof mercury, which are used to mine gold, and arehighly toxic when swallowed or inhaled.Whatever the future holds for chemical pollutants,the contaminants that currently flow from theborder zone out into the ocean, are damagingthe reproductive capacity of crustaceans andfish and so reducing the supply of seafood on theisland.86 Haiti – Dominican Republic: Environmental challenges in the border zone