APPENDIX I: SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING REGIONAL OR SUBREGIONAL ASPECTS

1. The Ad hoc Working Group has been very useful to promote sustainable lobster utilization at a national and regional level. It is recommended that FAO and national authorities continue supporting the Working Group's operation.

2. Cooperation is vital among countries for adequate resource management. (Mexico)

3. The Working Group could be useful in contributing to promote the acceptance of member countries for the application of international standards in their lobster fisheries. Decisions taken within the Working Group could receive greater support from decision makers than recommendations provided only by national institutions.

4. It was considered correct the methodology of providing technical support at national level, complemented with these meetings, in which are presented technical recommendations to decision makers in an immediate manner.

5. A greater sense of national ownership of the Working Group was promoted, by which the election of a Chair was carried out among participating countries and was proposed the appointment of two national focal points for each country.

6. The purpose of the Working Group has been to facilitate the integration of monitoring, review and implementation of an effective management for lobster fishery. It is essential that the Working Group be accepted as a national activity and not as something external to the countries' responsibilities and budget.

7. Countries must consider the establishment of national working groups linked to the Regional Working Group, to gain from the experience of individuals and institutions, which can contribute, with lobster stock management.

8. It was expressed concern because the Working Group was not giving enough attention to countries with scanty production, the meeting agreed that it was a problem due to limited budget and it was suggested the interaction with other regional agencies to facilitate the participation of these countries.

9. To establish the validity of the hypothesis on lobster shared stocks. (Venezuela)

10. Explore ways of conducting regional management. (Dominican Republic and Mexico)

11. Scientific support currently provided by FAO through the Working Group of the WECAFC, should be provided more extensively during the interim period between meetings. This will allow a much larger contribution of the countries at the next meeting. (Brazil)

12. It is recommended to make an integrated regional analysis, which will include some environmental variables into fisheries assessment models. (Cuba)

13. To adapt lobster fishery management taking into consideration local conditions of abundance and environment. (Cuba)

14. Development of international agreements with the main spiny lobster importing nations to jointly eliminate the trade of undersized lobster. (Brazil)

15. Creation of a permanent discussion group through Internet, for which Colombia has offered to lead during its first stage, as well as to request FAO's partnership, which will allow to improve our efforts in consolidating scientific information. (Colombia)

16. More support for regional cooperation and research, e.g. in the current CARIFORUM Fisheries Project and the utilization regional funding to a larger extent and explore ways of conducting regional management.

17. There are opportunities for the improvement of lobster fisheries management through cooperation with international organizations (CFU, FAO, etc.) and bilateral collaboration with neighboring countries. (Dominican Republic)

18. Establishment of joint agreements among different countries from the region, considering that it is a shared resource. (Elimination of diving as a fishing method, joint close seasons, shared surveillance, type of traps not harmful to the environment, etc.) (Honduras)

19. It was recognized the importance of cooperation between neighboring countries at a subregional level. The subregional groups can jointly operate in a planned manner together with the Regional Working Group.

20. Develop better cooperation between Belize and its partners Cuba and Mexico and its neighbouring countries in order to promote better local and regional management of the spiny lobster resource. (Belize)

21. To review available information in order to reach an agreement between Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua on a close season and minimum size at capture for the subregion. (Colombia)

22. To review available information in order to reach an agreement between Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua on a joint close season, which is estimated could be set up between May and June, because in June a spawning peak period occurs in Colombia and these months are included in the close season implemented in Nicaragua and something similar occurs in Honduras, where there is a 4-month close season (1^st April to 31^st July). (Colombia)

23. In the same way, by reviewing available information from Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua, data can be generated to determine a subregional minimum size at capture, it has been established a L_{tail value} of 145 mm in Honduras, 135 mm in Nicaragua and 140 mm in Colombia, which can give an average L_tail value of 140 mm. (Colombia)

24. Within the context of the existing working group and due to the socio-economic importance of the lobster fishery in some small island states of the Eastern Caribbean, FAO and CFU to provide technical and financial support to assist in the development of a subgroup comprising small islands states such as Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. (St. Lucia)

25. Develop and foster better cooperation between Belize, Cuba and Mexico and its neighbouring countries in order to promote better local and regional management of the spiny lobster resource. (Belize)

Table 1. Summary of size regulations and closed seasons in the region

^a) Carapace length.
^b) Converted from another measurement.
^c) Foreign vessels only.
^d) Without telson.

NATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Bahamas

• Determine reference points according to management goals.

• Utilize regional funding to a larger extent e.g. CARICOM Fisheries Unit Funds.

• Obtain advanced training for staff so that they may develop appropriate assessment methods for the fishery.

• Explore the possibility of employing persons to deal strictly with data collection including going to sea aboard fishing vessels.

• Ensure that scientific and management staff is kept up to date on the latest research by travelling to major scientific and management conferences.

• Make all possible efforts to reduce poaching.

• Collect data to determine when the peak of spawning with a view to possibly adjusting the closed season.

• Renew efforts to improve data collection, including biological, ecological, economic and social data.

Belize

• Monitor unreported landings so as to have valid statistical information of the stock.

• Update biological information on the lobster fishery.

• Reduce the use of hook-sticks to decrease mortality of lobsters below the minimum size.

• Use marine reserves as a means of protecting lobster nursery areas.

• Produce quantitative socio-economic and biological studies of the impact of the establishment of marine reserves.

• Conduct a survey of the fishing grounds to obtain information on the present stock.

• Retrieve catch and effort data by area from the cooperatives.

• When implementing management measures, ensure that the yield, food security and employment of the artisanal fishers targeting the lobster fishery are sustained or that adequate alternatives are made available.

• Add value to the product in order to secure better economic gains to the fishing communities and the country.

Bermuda

• Develop and declare precautionary and limit reference points (F_pa, F_max).
• Control effort (or other suitable variable) based on the indicator and reference points.

• Continue to monitor the population and estimate recruitment.

Brazil

• Implement a substantial reduction of the fishing effort.

• Development of an educational programme aiming at the general public and resource users regarding conservation of the lobster resource and impact of the fishing industry on resources and environment.

• Development of a basic education programme to eradicate illiteracy among fishers and their communities.

• Development and funding of an integrated long-range multidisciplinary spiny lobster research programme that considers stock assessment activities and the corresponding data collection, population dynamic studies to understand recruitment variability and reproductive potential of the stock. These activities should encompass the states of Pará, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Bahia and Espírito Santo.

Colombia

• Access to the fisheries of new fishing vessels must not be allowed; priority must be given to those already established.

• It is necessary to join forces especially among Nicaragua, Honduras and Colombia aimed at obtaining an integrated knowledge of lobster resources at the Central American platform, by processing the data collected so far for its assessment and initiate joint studies that can allow a better knowledge of the resource.

• It is necessary to carry out studies to characterize artisanal fisheries at keys, low-laying areas and banks within the archipelago, as well as of industrial enterprises that carry out their working operations in the same areas.

• Due to fishing pressure and fishing effort that is exerted over the pink conch and spiny lobster resources in the area, it is required to assess the current fishing grounds for white fish and those new fishing grounds capable of exploitation by the artisanal and industrial fishers.

• Due to the significant area occupied by Serranilla, Roncador, Serrana, Quitasueño, Bolivar and Alburquerque keys, as well as Providencia and San Andres islands, is essential to carry out an assessment of puerulus settlement and status of juveniles, that can allow the knowledge about part of the lobster's life cycle at a national and regional level, which would benefit to all the WECAFC region.

Cuba

• Must be maintained the current established fisheries regulatory measures, in particularly the 110 days close season.

Dominican Republic

• It has been evident the need of trained personnel for operating biological and fisheries data collection systems as well data analysis.

• It is required an expansion and standardization of the current fisheries data collection system in order to obtain necessary information for stock assessments at national level.

• It is required an effective control and surveillance system for compliance of close seasons and other regulations, such as those that establish minimum sizes and protection of berried females and juveniles.

• It is required the establishment of a fishery products quality control system, which will allow the country to be more competitive with regards to the established international standards and achieve better prices for the products.

Honduras

• It is necessary to have a strategic plan oriented toward the industrial and artesanal fleets.

• Due to the social and economic importance that represents lobster fisheries in our countries, we consider necessary to structure a satellite technical Working Group or a Commission for lobster management in the Atlantic coast.

• We also consider necessary to obtain necessary funds to prepare a bio-economic study on operational costs of artesanal and industrial fleets.

• The statistical data collection has improved, however, a reliable data collection, processing and analysis system is not available, which can lead to correct decision making by the Fisheries Administration.

• The status of the resource is not known in order to have a better management of these fisheries; therefore, are considered necessary proposals and funding for implementation of research or studies aimed at giving indications on the real status of the resource.

• To reduce total industrial fleet in Honduras during the current year from 358 fishing vessels to 300, and for 2005 to 250 vessels.

• To gradually reduce diving lobster fishing starting from next year, until its total elimination in 2006.

Jamaica

• There must be a clear policy statement for the lobster fishery that must be compatible with overall government policies for agriculture.

• Jamaica must address at least some of its national fisheries issues in order to play a more effective role in the overall regional management of lobsters. (Jamaica)

• Enactment of new Fisheries Act to facilitate better management of the lobster fishery. The new Act will stipulate that each fishery must have specific management plans monitored by a Fisheries Advisory Committee (FAC).

• The present management strategies will have to be improved and periodically assessed to evaluate their efficacy in curbing decline of the lobster stocks.

• It is the intention of the Fisheries Division to convince the Minister responsible for fisheries and the government to change the policy of open access (and limit entry) within the lobster fishery and to review and accommodate management recommendations to facilitate sustainable use of the resource.

• The Fisheries Division must attract the attention it needs from the government and must be institutionally strengthened to efficiently execute its mandate.

• Quantify the socio-economic value of the lobster fishery and the added value in Jamaica, especially to draw the attention of government as to the importance of the fishery.

• There is clearly not enough overall data on the fishery and this needs to be addressed urgently. However, due to scarce resources there needs to be recommendations on what minimum data is required to facilitate management plans.

• Reduction of fishing effort (limit entry) and begin to change the open access regime.

• Increase in the minimum carapace length limit from 76.2 mm to at least 83 mm with increased enforcement.

• Possible ban on freelung or scuba as a fishing gear for lobsters.

• Collect biological, catch and effort and socio-economic data (including export data) from fish processing plants.

• Establishment of Marine Reserves with adequate monitoring.

• Implementation of a tax on lobster exports to discourage excessive harvesting of lobsters in the industrial fishery and also to provide funding for data collection and management activities.

• Collaboration with research institutions such as the University of the West Indies (UWI) to get assistance in collecting data and the analysis of such.

• Ongoing public education to sensitize fishers, other stakeholders and the general public on spiny lobster management.

• Future use of casitas to promote resource enhancement.

Mexico

• Do not increase fishing effort and as much as possible reduce it, in view that the resource is now at its maximum yield.

• There is a need to develop new research activities, in addition to strengthen monitoring activities of the fisheries.

• It is required resource management by fishing zones, in both Yucatan and Quintana Roo, because there is great heterogeneity in lobster catches in each of these fishing zones. It should be considered management approaches for each fishing zone, from a biological, economic, and social point of view.

• Even though catches are being taken from non previously exploited zones in Yucatan, is recommended not to increase fishing effort until there is greater order in the fisheries, which can allow to have control over fishing effort.

• To translate research into public policies with social and economic components, in order to cross from good intentions to better decisions.

• It is proposed to carry out a meeting for fisheries administrators to discuss ways of homogenizing regional projects.

Nicaragua

• To request monetary support from the private sector in order to carry out biological samplings on a regular basis and collect all necessary information to assess the status of the resource exploitation.

• Regulate the access to artesanal fisheries through a licence or permit system, charges for issuing a permit could be implemented, which could help the Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras to carry out regular field works.

• To gradually reduce industrial fishing by diving and do not allow access to more fishing vessels.

• To apply indirect regulatory methods of fishing effort, such as application of permanent or temporary close seasons in areas with greater abundance of pre-recruits and recruits, which have been previously identified, for this, should be structured a robust surveillance system for regulations enforcement.

• To strengthen the implementation of global annual catch quota systems through the application of catch forecast models.

• To provide environmental training and education to fishers in cooperatives and fishing communities to make known the importance of observing the established fisheries regulations.

• To improve the monitoring, surveillance and control system in order to regulate in a more efficient way the compliance of established fisheries regulations.

• To apply a data collection system related with artesanal fishing effort.

Santa Lucia

• Implementation of a revised closed season, which extends from January to May.

• Consider the revision of the minimum size from 95 mm to 87 mm since recent research indicates that the size at first maturity is between 85 and 90 mm.

• Conducting further research in situ to determine and verify the size at first maturity.

• Continue to collect length frequency and tar spot data during the fishing season.

• Carrying out additional research to determine the reasons for the difference in periods of reproductive activity between the southeast and southwest.

• Implementation of a mechanism for limiting entry to the nearshore fisheries resources.

• Implementing measures to reduce the retention of undersized lobster in the catch.

• Economic and fiscal incentives which would encourage fishing cooperatives and potential fishers to invest in semi-industrial vessels which would exploit off shore resources.

• Improvement of the data collection system to incorporate adequate data collection on the spiny lobster fishery.

• Conducting further assessment of the fishery to determine exploitation levels, fishing mortality and age of the exploited population to refine management options so as to ensure the long-term sustainability of the fishery.

• Revision of the management plan to integrate the management of the entire nearshore resources as a single entity, rather than management of the nearshore resources on a species by species basis.

Turks and Caicos

• To reconstruct a long, historical and continuous time series of annual results of export size categories from the processing plants. At least from now on, this data should be recorded from all the plants.

• Collect some fishery independent indexes, as the juvenile abundance in nursery areas, and adult abundance in the fishing areas. Also length compositions and other biological data of landed lobsters must be systematically collected.

• Improve compliance of the minimum legal size to avoid growth overfishing.

• Formulate or revamp a clearly stated policy for the management of the lobster resource by the decision makers in collaboration with the resources users.

Venezuela

• Establishment of a monitoring plan to obtain population and fisheries parameters. Taking into consideration the highly migratory characteristics of the resource, is suggested that the Caribbean countries which exploit it, should participate in this monitoring plan; and within Venezuela should be considered the participation of USB, FCLR, INAPESCA, Ministry of Defence and INIA, the latter as the country's official research institution. Aspects to be developed within this plan are: 1) fishing fleet characterization; 2) catch, fishing effort and catch per unit effort (CPUE) analysis; 3) to know the resource's distribution and fishing areas; 4) biological and population dynamics aspects (growth, mortality, recruitment, reproduction and size at maturity); 5) socio-economic and/or bio-economic aspects.