The research was conducted between 2019 - 2020, in the community of La Playa de Mermejo, Soná, province of Veraguas, in the gulf of Montijo, in the Panamanian pacific coast; it studies the characteristic relationships between black shell (Anadara tuberculosa) extractors and artisanal fishermen, and the nearby mangrove swamp. The deterioration of the ecosystem has an impact, there the mangrove forest is dying and those interviewed identified several causes such as the invasion of barnacles in the trees, the accumulation of solid waste of various types, some toxic, such as gasoline, resin and tires; as well as the over-extraction of shells, the excessive cutting of the mangrove tree to capture parrots. The villagers are interested in knowing the origin of this problem, because the loss of the mangrove tree threatens the existence of the natural resource and the community's economy, based mainly on shell extraction and artisanal fishing.
In the fieldwork of this research, the qualitative approach predominates, in addition to the review of secondary sources such as official documents and research related to the topic. Several characteristics of the human-mangrove relationship were identified, differentiated for fishermen and shell fishermen, the latter's link is more direct with the mangrove.
In conclusion, both groups are concerned about the current condition of the mangrove; taking the black conch population as a reference, they consider that the condition of the marine-coastal resource is maintained and some perceive that it is increasing in spite of the mangrove condition. The fishermen do not think so; they consider that there is an important decrease in the amount of fish, which they associate to the increase in the number of fishermen, the trammel net stretches, and the fumigation carried out by the producers in the area
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