1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Total productivity (t) over the entire range of stock 



Unit number and fishery 



Prorated productivity 

 (t) within the US EEZ 



U S RAY US LTPY 



6. Atlantic shark 



7 Atlantic coastal migratory pelagic 



8. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean reef fish 



9 Southeast drum and croaker 



10 Southeast menhaden 



1 1 Southeast and Caribbean invertebrate 

 21 Southeast nearshore species 



Total 



Table 6 



Productivity in metric tons 

 (t) of fisheries resources of 

 the Southeast Region, 

 1995-97 



fullv Utilized in both the Gulf ot Mexico and Athmtic. Yields arc not now closclv tied to 

 shrimping effort — about half the current effort in the Ciulf could produce aliout the same 

 Ions-term averasie vield. 



Yellovi^tail snapper, French- 

 tov\/n Harbor, US, Virgin Is- 

 lands. 



Information is incomplete on the status of invertebrates other than shrimp. Spiny 

 lobster off the southeastern U.S. coast is apparently overutilized and below the LTPY level. 

 The recreational catch of spiny lobster is unknown but thotight to be significant. I he 

 Caribbean spiny lobster status is uncertain, but tliat species is possibly overutilized and 

 experiencing growth overfishing. Stone crab appears to be fulK' utilized. C^iieen conch off 

 the southeastern U.S. coast has been below the LITY level for some time, despite a joint 

 state-Federal protection program. 



RAY for Atlantic sharks is less than l"o of the total for the Southeast Region. How- 

 e\er, sharks are a very important component of the ecr)system. Because of their low repro- 

 thictive capacity, sharks are considered to be particularly vulnerable to overfishing. Large 

 coastal sharks (as a group cr)nsisting of 17 species) may be overutiii/ed, but the status of 

 each species is presentK' unknown. When iii.uiaged in aggregate, it is likely that some stocks 

 will be overfished while others will go underutilized. Improvements in data collection are 

 necessary before these stocks can be assessed more adeijuatelv on .\n induidiial basis. 



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