Analysis of U.S. Caribbean Parrotfish Landings and Regulations
This analysis delves into the commercial parrotfish landings in the U.S. Caribbean, focusing on regulations, catch limits, and regulatory objectives. It explores the data sources, size limits, gear types, and the need to maintain sustainable parrotfish stocks.
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Photo: Tom Loyrer Analysis of Analysis of Commercial Parrotfish Commercial Parrotfish Landings in the U.S. Caribbean Landings in the U.S. Caribbean Southeast Regional Office St. Petersburg, Florida February 18, 2025
U.S. Caribbean Parrotfish Regulations Caribbean Fishery Management Council (EEZ) Prohibition of Gill and Trammel Nets November 2005 Prohibition of Blue, Midnight, and Rainbow parrotfish USVI State Waters Prohibition of Gill and Trammel Nets In process (Amendment 5) July 2006 2
Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act of 2006 set Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) Commercial parrotfish landings and ACLs: Average of Recent Landings Years: 2006 to 2008 31,266 41,342 402,744* ACLs Puerto Rico St. Thomas St. Croix 52,727 42,500 240,000 *St. Croix parrotfish landings need to be reduced by 40% to equal ACL level. 3
Parrotfish Regulatory Objectives 1. Future parrotfish landings will be at or below ACL levels 2. Maintain reproductive viability of the stock Other considerations Potentially allow harvest of plate sized parrotfish 4
Data Sources and Analyses Size Limit Data: Trip Interview Program Minimum Size, Maximum Size, and Slot Limits for the sizes of 8 to 15 inches Trip Limit Data: Commercial Catch Records Evaluated trip limits from 10 to 500 pounds 5
120,000 70,000 St. Thomas Puerto Rico 60,000 100,000 50,000 80,000 ACL Landings (lbs) Landings (lbs) 40,000 60,000 ACL 30,000 40,000 20,000 20,000 10,000 0 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Year 500,000 St. Croix 450,000 400,000 350,000 Landings (lbs) 300,000 ACL 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 6 Year
Parrotfish Landings by Gear Type Data: Commercial Catch Records for all 3 islands. Other Seines Gill Nets Diving Line Fishing Trammel Net Traps 600,000 500,000 400,000 Landings (lbs) 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 7
Percentage of TIP records by parrotfish species for each island Numbers in parenthesize are sample size Princess Queen Redband Redfin Redtail Stoplight Striped St. Croix 1.4 (87) 0.2 (13) 7.9 (463) 5.6 (329) 49.4 (2,907) 35.5 (2,090) 0.0 (0) St. Thomas 0.7 (7) 0.2 (2) 0.8 (8) 3.6 (38) 45.8 (485) 48.9 (518) 0.1 (1) Puerto Rico 4.8 (116) 4.8 (115) 0.4 (9) 1.7 (42) 38.1 (923) 50.2 (1,213) 0.0 (0) All Three Islands 2.2(210) 1.4 (130) 5.1 (480) 4.4 (409) 46.1 (4,315) 40.8 (3,821) 0.01 (1) Data: Trip Interview Program Years of Data St. Croix 2008-2010 St. Thomas 2008-2010 Puerto Rico 2006-2008 8
20 18 16 Fork Length (in) 14 Male 12 10 9 8 Female 7 6 5 Princess Queen Redband Redfin Redtail Stoplight Data: Trip Interview Program Species Years of Data St. Croix 2008-2010 St. Thomas 2008-2010 Puerto Rico 2006-2008 Parrotfish are protogynous hermaphrodites (female to male) 9
Analysis Example 1800 St. Croix TIP data: 2008-2010 1600 1400 Impose Minimum Size Limit of 11 inches 1200 Frequency 1000 Removes 19% of landings 800 600 i.e. % Reduction = 19% 400 200 0 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Fork Length (inches) 10
Size Limit Percent Reductions Data: St. Croix TIP data for years 2008 to 2010 Potential percent reductions are highlighted Minimum Size % Maximum Size % Size Limit (inches FL) No Limit 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 100 0.9 7.5 18.9 42 72.8 91.8 96.7 98.3 100 99.1 92.5 81.1 58 27.2 8.2 3.3 1.7 11
Percent reduction for slot limits Data: St. Croix TIP data for years 2008 to 2010 Potential percent reductions are highlighted Maximum Size (inches FL) Minimum Size (inches FL) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 - 9 10 82.0 88.6 - 11 58.9 65.5 76.9 - 12 28.0 34.6 46.0 69.2 - 13 9.0 15.6 27.0 50.2 81.0 - 14 4.1 10.7 22.1 45.3 76.1 95.1 - 15 2.6 9.2 20.6 43.7 74.5 93.5 98.4 93.4 - 12
Trip Limit Results for St. Croix Data: landings data for 2007 and 2008 Potential percent reductions are highlighted Trip Limits Landings Percent (lbs) Reduction (lbs) Reduction No Harvest 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150 200 300 400 500 774,888 683,642 605,061 539,252 481,995 432,122 389,105 352,679 321,243 293,794 269,497 194,548 140,658 59,483 16,845 7,985 100 88.2 78.1 69.6 62.2 55.8 50.2 45.5 41.5 37.9 34.8 25.1 18.2 7.7 2.2 1 Toller (2007) determined a cut-off threshold of 162.5 pounds to separate net-scuba from scuba- only landings.
St. Croix percent reduction of landings from a combination of slot limits and trip limits Potential percent reductions are highlighted Slot Limit (inches) Trip Limit (lbs) 10 91.5 88.7 90.8 20 84.2 79.0 82.9 30 78.1 70.9 76.3 40 72.8 63.8 70.6 50 68.2 57.6 65.6 100 53.1 37.5 49.2 150 46.1 28.2 41.7 200 41.1 21.6 36.3 8 to 12 8 to 14 10 to 14 14
Caveats Assuming previous year s landings are a reasonable predictor of future landings trends Trip limit reductions do not account for shifts in fishing effort or other behavior changes. 15
Regulation Impacts Minimum size limit: potentially allows fish to spawn before being harvested, but allows harvest of larger more fecund fish. Maximum Size Limit: protects larger more fecund fish, but allows harvest of smaller and possibly immature fish. Slot Limit: potentially protects both small immature and large fecund fish Trip limit: Can deter harvest with illegal gear if set to a sufficiently low limit 16
Photo: Adona9 Photo: Damian Krzeminski Parrotfish Considerations Herbivorous grazers removing algae which enhances settlement and survival of coral recruits (Brock 1979; Mumby 2006; Burkepile and Hay 2010). Ecological role of parrotfish has become more relevant in the past 30 years due to Caribbean-wide decline of longspine urchin (Mumby 2006). Parrotfish are protogynous hermaphrodites (female to male) 17
Questions? Photo: www.itsallaboutfish.co.uk 18
Parrotfish Landings by Island Data: Commercial Catch Records 600,000 St. Thomas Puerto Rico St. Croix 500,000 400,000 Landings (lbs) 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 19
