Children's interaction with ecosystem services in a mangrove forest: Perceptions of fisherfolks on the involvement of minors in fishing activities in the Gulf of Fonseca in Honduras

Abstract

This study examines the participation of minors in fishing activities in the communities settled in the mangroves of the Gulf of Fonseca, in Honduras. With a survey of 88 fishermen from San Lorenzo (in the province of Valle), we describe the perception of adults regarding the involvement of minors in fishing and we examine the threats to the mangrove ecosystem on the Pacific coast. To complete the case study, 11 qualitative interviews and 2 focus groups with key informants were conducted. The results revealed that children start to perform pre-work activities around the age of 11 or 12. The contact with nature in complementary shellfish harvesting and fishing activity is perceived as contributing to the improvement of their understanding of nature in general and about the ecosystem services of the mangrove in particular. This assessment of child labour practices when minors collaborate in family subsistence activities, highlights the need to ensure local traditional knowledge transmission that should be integrated as part of formal education, which may help reinforce the fishing community future implication in conservation bottom-up initiatives at the same time that prevent child labour malpractices.