APPENDIX G: SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT OF SPINY LOBSTER (PANULIRUS ARGUS) FISHERIES IN THE WECAFC REGION

J.C. Seijo*

* Centro Marista de Estudios Superiores, Periférico Norte Tablaje 13941 Carretera Mérida-Progreso, Mérida 97300, Yucatán, México, E-mail: [email protected], Fax: 52 (999) 9410307, Phone: 52 (999) 9410302.

Summary

To be meaningful, fisheries management should be concerned with the whole stock unit over its entire area of distribution, and therefore, responsible management of transboundary spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) stocks requires that States concerned cooperate to ensure effective conservation and management of these shared stocks (FAO, 1995 and 2001). Cooperative management should be based on the best scientific evidence available on a resource over its entire life cycle, as well as the bioeconomic status of the fishery.

One basic step in this cooperation process is to undertake, periodically, a joint scientific stock assessment of the shared resource and of the fishery as a whole. Another fundamental aspect of responsible use of the spiny lobster resources in the Western Central Atlantic Region, is that management strategies be designed to ensure long term sustainability of the fishery and consequently foster inter-generational equity in resource use.

To be effective, the management process should involve the input of fishers and processors concerning their empirical knowledge on the resource and the environment affecting it, as well as, their perception of potential effectiveness of alternative management strategies. Cooperation in fisheries management among States involved, can be most useful if there is an exchange of experiences on effective mechanisms for fisheries surveillance and enforcement that ensure transparency in local and regional fisheries.

Once States sharing the resource have jointly assessed the stock, they should take measures to prevent or eliminate excess fishing capacity to ensure sustainability of the spiny lobster fishery.

Overexploitation and Overcapacity: Possible Causes in Spiny LobsterFisheries

As in most world fisheries, there are number of factors which may be causing overcapacity and overexploitation in the spiny lobster fishery among them (Munro, 1999; Seijo, 2001):

Inherent resource characteristics.
Inadequate regimes of property rights.
Ineffective monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement.
Technical advances in fishing industry.
Financial transfers from the Government to the fishing industry (subsidies).

Concerning this last factor, some subsidies fostering increases in fishing capacity in spiny lobster fisheries of the WECAFC region may include:

Grants for the construction of new vessels, traps, lobster aggregating devices, hookah and diving equipment.
Grants for the modernization of current fleet.
Preferential credits and tax treatments for (1) and (2).
Reduced price or tax breaks for purchased inputs (e.g. fuel, bait and ice).
Market price supports.

Impact of subsidies on the sustainability of the lobster fishery is mostly through the effect of profits on effort dynamics and consequently on fishing capacity. It seems therefore fundamental to estimate the cost reducing and revenues enhancing effects of subsidies on vessel's profits.

Table 1. Overcapacity in spiny lobster fisheries of the WECAFC region?

Substock*	Capacity level	Strategy
North (The Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba north, St. Lucia**), Turks & Caicos Islands and USA	Overcapacity?	Reduce
North Central (Belize, Cuba (south) and México)	Full capacity?	Limit entry
South Central (Colombia, Dominican Rep., Honduras, Jamaica and Nicaragua)	Overcapacity?	Reduce
South (Brazil, Netherlands Antilles and Venezuela)	Full capacity	Limit entry

* Source: Cochrane and Chakalall (2001).
** Saint Lucia has recently been included in this group.

It should be mentioned, however, that the fishing capacity status of the spiny lobster fisheries in the WECAFC region may involve heterogeneous levels of fishing effort. In Table 1 a set of possible levels of capacity and corresponding strategies are presented for the different substocks (North, North Central, South Central, and South) that have been identified by the WECAFC ad hoc working group on spiny lobster for research and management purposes (Cochrane and Chakalall, 2001). The countries fishing each substock are also identified in Table 1.

Subregional cooperation for joint research is needed to test the above set of hypotheses concerning the status of the substocks in the WECAFC region. Concerning cooperation in the region, Table 2, identifies proposed cooperation in data collection, stock assessment, bio-economic analysis, and training for responsible management of fisheries.

Table 2. Proposed cooperation in research and management of spiny lobster fisheries of the WECAFC region

Substock	Data Collection	Stock Assessment	Bio-economic Analysis	Training
North		Ö	Ö
North Central	Ö	Ö	Ö
South Central	Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
South	Ö		Ö	Ö

It should be pointed out that there are a number of research and management questions that need to be addressed to undertake responsible management of spiny lobster fisheries. Some of these research and management questions relevant to the subregions where the different substocks occur are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Some research and management questions to be addressed in each subregion

Substock	Research and management questions
North	Is there over capacity for this substock? Is there a significant Stock-Recruitment relationship?
North Central	Optimum number of traps and casitas? Bioeconomic effect of using alternative gear?
South Central	Are there changes in length frequency distribution over the subregion? How to sustain yield, food security, and employment of artisanal fishers targeting at spiny lobster?
South	What is the bioeconomic optimum number of traps?

Finally, there is a more general question: How to answer research and management questions for the spiny lobster fisheries of WECAFC?

It seems that a number of aspects could be considered for an effective process of joint research and management of spiny lobster fisheries sharing substocks, among them:

To design clearly focused training and cooperation at regional and subregional levels.
To foster working groups dealing with shared stock assessment, bio-economic analysis and management in an environment of dynamics, risk and uncertainty.

References

Cochrane, K.L. & Chakalall, B. 2001. The spiny lobster fishery in the WECAFC region - An approach to responsible fisheries management. Mar. Freshwater Res. 52: 1623-1631.

FAO. 1995. Code of conduct for responsible fisheries. FAO, Rome, 41 p.

FAO/WECAFC. 2001. Report on the FAO/DANIDA/CFRAMP/WECAFC Regional Workshops on the Assessment of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus). Belize City, Belize, 21 April-2 May 1997 and Mérida, Yucatán, México, 1-12 June 1998. FAO Fisheries Report No. 619. FAO, Rome, 381 p.

FAO/WECAFC/COPACO. 2001. Report of the Workshop on Management of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) Fisheries in the Area of the Western Atlantic Fishery Commission. Mérida, México, 4-8 September 2000. Informe del Taller sobre Manejo de las Pesquerías de Langosta Espinosa (Panulirus argus) del Area de la Comisión de Pesca para el Atlantico Centro-Occidental. Mérida, México, 4-8 de septiembre de 2000. FAO Fisheries Report/FAO Informe de Pesca No. 643. FAO, Rome, 66 p.

Munro, G. 1999. The economics of overcapitalization and fishery resource management: A review. Pp 7-26 In: A. Hatcher and K. Robinson (eds). Overcapacity, Overcapitalization and Subsidies in European Fisheries. Portsmouth, UK, CEMARE 44. 282 p.

Seijo, J.C. 2001. Estimating fisheries subsidies and their impact on sustainability of fish resources: dealing with dynamics, risk and uncertainty. Paper presented in the Expert Consultation on Economic Incentives and Responsible Fisheries, Rome, Italy, Nov. 28-Dec. 1., 2000. FAO/FI: EIRF, 4. 21 p.

Seijo, J.C. & Caddy, J.F. 2000. Uncertainty in bio-economic reference points and indicators of marine fisheries. Mar. Freshwater Res. (Australia) 51: 477-483.