UNIT 11 

 SOUTHEAST AND CARIBBEAN INVERTEBRATE FISHERIES 



economic factors on shrimp, lobster, and crab pro- 

 duction and restoration is needed, particularly in 

 the reet habitats ot South Florida. Steps need to 

 be taken to mitigate or restore lost estuarine habi- 



Transboundary Stocks and 

 Fishery Management Jurisdiction 



Spiny lobster stocks in Florida could be ot 

 Caribbean origin, being swept into the region by 

 currents of the Gulf Stream. Another hypothesis 

 is that they could comprise a number of different 

 spawning stocks. The actual sources of all Florida 

 and Caribbean lobster stocks (both U.S. and for- 

 eign) need to be identified and international man- 

 agement established to prevent overharvesting. 



Management Concerns 



Many small spin\' lobsters are caught in the 

 Puerto Rican fishery. If these lobsters were allowed 

 to grow larger before harvest, there would be a 

 substantial increase in yield by weight. Modifica- 

 tion of the traps to allow more of the small lob- 

 sters to escape needs to be investigated. Small lob- 

 sters are sometimes used to bait traps in the lob- 

 ster fishery. This current practice is wasteful and 

 hinders rebuilding of the stock. 



The shrimp fisheries are currently overcapi- 

 talized, with more fishing effort being expended 

 than needed to harvest the resource. In addition, 

 the harvesting of small shrimp inshore is sacrific- 

 ing yield and value of the catch by cutting short 

 future growth. 



Bycatch and 

 Multispecies Interactions 



Shrimp fisheries use small-mesh nets and can 

 catch nontarget species such as red snappers, croak- 

 ers, seatrouts, and sea turtles, juvenile finfish are 

 often harvested, and this may be a major source 

 of mortality for them. Some fish caught by shrimp- 

 ers are currently at low stock levels (see Unit 9). 

 This bycatch may slow or prevent recovery it not 

 mitigated. 



As sea turtles are all listed as endangered or 

 threatened under the Endangered Species Act, 



shrimp vessels have been required to use turtle 

 excluder devices in their nets since 1988 to avoid 

 capturing sea turtles and thus protect the stocks. 



Progress 



The National Marine Fisheries Service and the 

 fishing industry are working together to finalize 

 bycatch-reduction gear development and imple- 

 mentation to address the problems of finfish 

 bycatch by shrimp fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico 

 and South Atlantic. 



A gear conflict benveen stone crab trappers and 

 shrimp trawlers off southwestern Florida has 

 mostly been resolved in the 200-mile Federal zone 

 with a line separating the fishing areas and sea- 

 sonal area closures. This approach requires con- 

 tinued monitoring to gauge its success and pre- 

 vent renewal of conflicts. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Klima, E. R, J. M. Nance, E. X. Martinez, andT. Leary. 

 1 990. Workshop on definition of shrimp recruitment 

 overfishing. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 

 ministration Technical Memorandum NMl'S- 

 SEFSC-264, 21 p. 



Nance, |. M. 199.ia. Effort Trends for the Ciulf of 

 Mexico Shrimp Fisherv. National Oceanic and At- 

 mospheric Administration Technical Memorandum 

 NMFS-SEFSC-337, 37p. 



Nance, j. M. 1993b. Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery 

 recruitment overfishing definition; workshop 2. Na- 

 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Tech- 

 nical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-323, 12 p. 



Nance, ]. M. 1997. Stock assessment tor brown, white 

 and pink shrimp In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, 1960- 

 1996. Report to the Gulf ot Mexico Fishery Manage- 

 ment Gouncil. 13 p. 



Nance, I. M. 1998. Biological review of the 19^)7 Texas 

 closure. Reporr ro the Gult ot Mexico Fisherv Man- 

 agement Gouncil, 25 p. 



Brown shrimp and 

 mixed bycatch of red 

 snapper, butterfish, 

 and other species. 



-^^ 



Stone crab traps, Florida 

 Keys, Florida. 



1 47 



