U.N. helps Placencia lobstermen upgrade skills

Placencia’s lobster fishermen will be upgrading their skills thanks to a grant from the United Nations Development Program. In a ceremony held Tuesday, a cheque for over forty-two thousand dollars was presented to Carlton Young Senior, chairman of the Placencia Producers Co-op. This represents the first instalment of a total of ninety-eight thousand dollars that will be used to help the fishermen convert from diving for lobster to the more sustainable use of traps and shades. As part of the project, a group of co-op members will travel to Punta Allen on the coast of Quintana Roo to observe the techniques used by their Mexican colleagues. The funds will also go toward the construction of nine hundred traps and eight hundred and seventy shades. Much of the coral habitat around Placencia was severely damaged by Hurricane Iris in October 2001.