June 22, 2009 — Regional fishery managers are moving closer to finalizing plans to halt overfishing of 21 species as they meet this week on St. Croix.
The federal government is mandating that annual fish-catch limits for some species be in place by 2010 to prevent a fisheries collapse, and is mandating that regional regulatory bodies such as the Caribbean Fishery Management Council put together plans, with public input, that meet the federal requirements. There have been several hearings seeking public input already, and this week the council will meet Tuesday and Wednesday at the Carambola Resort to finalize its proposal to limit catches of species ranging from Nassau grouper to parrotfish.
Recent scientific studies show fish on the Caribbean reef have been declining at a rate of about five percent a year for the last decade, according to the Pew Environmental Group, which is advising the council. Overfishing is the most likely cause for the loss of the Caribbean's large predator fish such as the Nassau grouper, and is linked to the decline of the coral reef. Snapper, grouper, conch and parrotfish are all being fished too fast to ensure their survival and, without some rule changes, fishermen eventually will run out of fish to catch.
Currently there are no rules that limit the numbers or size of snappers, groupers or parrotfish that fishermen can catch. As a result, these fish populations have suffered from decades of high fishing rates, according to the Pew Group. There are existing limits on queen conch, which will be tightened.
Along with looking at options for setting annual catch limits for groupers, snappers, parrotfish and queen conch, the council wants to establish annual catch limits for recreational fishermen. By federal mandate, the council has come up with several alternatives, which range from adding additional areas to those already closed during spawning seasons to reducing the fishing season and increasing the size of closed areas.
During the first round of public hearings in the Virgin Islands, some territorial fishermen opposed new limits in the territory, arguing they need time to adjust after a recent ban on gill nets before another major change in regulations, and that local catch limits should be determined by local fishery data, not data collected in Puerto Rico and elsewhere. (See "DPNR to Crack Down on Illegal Gill and Trammel Nets" and "Fishermen Object to Proposed Catch Limits.")
Sera Harold Drevenak, a St. Croix native who is senior policy analyst and fisheries expert for the Pew Environment Group, said the data on the need for catch limits is persuasive and, while more local data is needed, there is a serious overfishing problem that needs to be addressed.
"It is true a lot of the data is gathered from Puerto Rico, because they have the funding to do much better data collection," Drevenak said Monday. "However, the data from the catch and the estimate for the stock size around St. Croix, for instance, are such that even if the data is a little off, we are still looking at a situation that requires drastic and immediate action."
And even though a deep trench separates the Virgin Islands from Puerto Rico, and St. Croix from St. Thomas, their ecologies are closely woven together.
"You can't make a clear biological distinction between them," Drevenak said. "Those larval reef fish and conch larvae can travel for weeks before maturing. Larvae can start in Mexico and wind up here or in St. Lucia. They are all in the ocean, and the larvae spread so far and so fast it is really all one population."
Drevenak agrees that adding new regulations relatively soon after the ban on gill netting is unfortunate and a hardship for fisherman, but says she is optimistic this will be the last major change for some time.
"There is no choice on the local level to change the regulations," she said. "It is mandated by Congress. But what these new regulations are intended to do is stop all the changes. So to those who are trying to make a living in fishing, yes we are changing the rules, but I'm hopeful this is the last time."
The meetings are open to the public, and some time will be set aside for public comments. Meetings are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. After the final plan is drafted, there will be more public meetings to gather additional input.
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