80 



Fishery Bulletin 89(1), 1991 



MEXICO 



Puerto Juarez ^ lsla ^ujeres 

 Puerto Morelos* 



/ j Cozur 



jmel 



Punta Allen 



Ascension Bay 

 Espiritu Santo Bay 



Punta Herrero 



<j Banco Chinchorro 

 Xcalak 



»© 



Punta Allen 



® -, t® 

 ©:* 



i 

 Ascension Mtaa, (VI) 



Bay ' , ixjjl Punta 



"k-^jSiVJ"' Pajaros 



N 

 19M5 



Punta Herrero 



w 89° 



86° 



W 87°30' 



Figure 1 



(a) The coast of Quintana Roo, showing the main fishing localities for Panulirus argus. (b) The six sampling zones for tagging opera- 

 tions in Bahia de la Ascensi6n. 



with 21% of the fishermen operate, lobster fishing is 

 limited to a depth of approximately 15 m. 



In the southern zone, including Chinchorro Bank, 

 three cooperatives involving 14% of the fishermen 

 catch lobsters exclusively by skin diving with a gaff, 

 to a depth of approximately 15 m (Secretaria de Pesca 

 1987). 



Study site 



Bahia de la Ascension (Fig. lb) is an open, shallow bay 

 (<6m) approximately 740 km 2 in area. Several coral 

 banks follow an ancient shore line along the mouth of 

 the bay (Jordan 1988) and form an interrupted reef. 

 This reef reduces wave surge, and hence the bay has 

 relatively calm waters. 



The bay is bordered by mangrove and grass swamps 

 and has several mangrove keys in its central and 

 southern parts. The outer half of the bay is dominated 

 by hard, sandy substrates with extended seagrass 

 areas, whereas the inner half of the bay is shallow 

 (<2m), with mostly soft, unconsolidated sediments. 



The fishery 



Up to a maximum of 108 lobster fishermen in the area 

 belong to a cooperative named "Pescadores de Vigi'a 

 Chico," based at Punta Allen. A team that fishes the 

 casitas in an owner's parcel during the fishing season 

 consists of two or three fishermen (the parcel owner 

 and one or two assistants). The number of casitas per 

 parcel varies, and some owners claim to have more than 

 1000. The total number of casitas in the entire fishing 

 ground of the cooperative was estimated at approx- 

 imately 20,000, based on interviews of all fishermen 

 in the cooperative. The fishermen catch lobsters mainly 

 in the outer half of the bay, where seagrass is more 

 abundant. There are no parcels in the inner half 

 because the bottom is not suitable for casitas and the 

 water is usually too turbid for diving. Regulations for 

 this fishery include a closed season from 16 March to 

 15 July, a minimum size limit of 135 mm tail length 

 (=74 mm carapace length), and a prohibition on the 

 catching of egg-bearing females. Only the tails are 

 utilized. Tails are graded according to weight, packed 

 in 10-pound (4.650kg) boxes, and frozen. 



