1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Landings (t) 

 1,400 - 



1,200 



1,000 - 



Landings 



Figure 16-1 



Hawaiian lobster landings 

 (spiny and slipper lobsters) 

 for 1983-97, in metric tons 

 (t).The fishery was closed in 

 1993 and the seasons short- 

 ened in 1994 and 1995. 



87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 96 96 97 

 Year 



commercial lobster catch per unit of cHort, the 

 plan was amended (Amendment 7) to incliicie an 

 annual 6-montli closed season (Janiiary-Jiine), 

 limit entry into the fishery, and establish an an- 

 nual catch quota. The plan was amended again in 

 1996 (Amendment 9) to implement a quota sys- 

 tem based on a constant harvest rate that allows 

 only a 10% risk of" overfishing in any given year 

 and allows the retention of all lobsters caught. 



Precious corals occurring in the U.S. hxclu- 

 sive Economic Zone also are managed under a fish- 

 ery management plan implemented in 1983 by 

 the Western Pacific Regional Fisher)' Management 

 Council. Very limited quotas are allowed under 

 regular permits, and experimental permits are re- 

 quired tor unassessed coral beds. 



Fishery Landings 



rile cdmhiiicd landings of spiiu' and slipper 

 lobster in 1997 were 3.^0.00(1 pounds whole 

 weiszhi ( 1 SO metric tons (t) valued at S 1 ,9()(),()()()) 



and consisted of 175,000 spiny lobster and 

 135,000 slipper lobster. Ihe fishery initially tar- 

 geted spiny lobster, but b\ 1984 gear modifica- 

 tions and improved markets led to an increase in 

 slipper lobster landings. Landings peaked in 1985 

 at 1,300 t (worth $6,000,000), and generally de- 

 clined from 1986 to 1995. (The fishery was closed 

 in 1993 and had shortened seasons in 1994 and 

 1995.) Cratches of slipper lobster were significant 

 for a brief period, 1985 to 1987, and fell into a 

 general decline from 1989 to 1996. Overall land- 

 ings increased in 1996 and 1997 due to recovery 

 of the population following several years of clo- 

 sures and shortened seasons and changes in the 

 fishery management plan, which allowed the re- 

 tention of juvenile and egg-bearing lobsters (Fig- 

 ure 16-1). 



Most of the lobster catch is processed at sea 

 and landed as frozen tails. In recent years, the open- 

 ing of several foreign markets has led to an in- 

 crease in live landings. Nonetheless, most lobsters 

 are still landed as processed frozen tails. 



Since 1983 the commercial fishery has fished 

 plastic traps. Approximately 1 strings of 1 00 traps 

 each are fished overnight at depths generally rang- 

 ing from 15 to 35 fathoms (27-64 m). Flistori- 

 cally, traps set at the deeper depths caught slipper 

 lobster while the shallower sets caught spiny lob- 

 ster. In recent vears, slipper lobsters have been 

 caught at shallow depths presumablv due in part 

 to the "fishing down" of spinv lobsters and avail- 

 abilitv of suitable lobster habitat. Current, recent, 

 and long-term potential yields for these species are 

 given in Hiblc 16-1 . 



SPECIES AND STATUS 



Lobster 



Ihe populations of spiny and slipper lobster 

 declined dramaticalK' from the mid 1980's through 



Table 16 1 



Productivity in metric tons 

 and status of Western Pacific 

 Region lobster fishery re- 

 sources. 



Species 



Spiny and slipper lobster 



'Approaching full utilization level 



Recent Current Long-term 



average yield potential yield potential yield 



(RAY) (CPY) (LTPY) 



109 



160 



222 



Full' 



Above 



1 84 



