Development of Island-Based FMPs

Caribbean Fishery Management Council 152nd Meeting 21-22 April 2015Divi Carina Hotel, St. Croix, USVI

Why an Island-Based FMP?

• Manage the specific fisheries of each Island based on the species targeted, gears used, available markets, economies, fisheries, and social and cultural idiosyncrasies.

Actions to Date

• CFMC Agenda Item in Meetings: 143rd -152nd

• Scoping Meetings: July 2012; July-August 2013; April 7-14 2014 (reports to 147th and 149th CFMC meetings)

• SSC Recommendations to CFMC (November 2013 to present)

• Ad hoc Committee established

Actions to Date -Continuation

• APs Recommendations to CFMC (August 2013)• District Advisory Panels (DAPs) established • 1st Meeting DAPs (March 2015)• Topic of discussion: species selection action

and alternatives

What is being discussed?

• Developing criteria for objectively identifying species in need of management in the US Caribbean

• The criteria will be used separately for each Island FMP:– Puerto Rico FMP– St. Thomas/St. John FMP– St. Croix FMP

Action and Alternatives

• One Action and 3 Alternatives have been considered.

• These were taken to the DAPs and the SSC

Action 1. Determine species to be included for management in the FMP.

• Alternative 1. No action. All historically managed species within the FMPs.– Spiny Lobster FMU = 1 species– Reef Fish FMP = 81 species + 58 aquarium trade– Queen Conch FMP = 1 species– Coral FMP = 94 species or species groups +

63 aquarium trade invertebrates

Action 1. Determine species to be included for management in the FMP.

• Alternative 2. Identify species to be managed in EEZ waters using all or some of the criteria listed below.– Criterion A. Species occurrence in state waters.– Criterion B. Status of the stock.– Criterion C. Species as a component of the catch.– Criterion D. Ecologically essential species.

Action 1. Determine species to be included for management in the FMP.

• Alternative 3. Identify species to be managed in EEZ waters using an integrated attributes analysis.

Table 1. Example of the attribute-based selection table that would be used to score all the species. Scoring will be conducted by an expert panel and the resultant average score compared against a threshold selected by the Council. Species whose average score is above that threshold will be included for federal management in St. Croix EEZ waters.

Species/ Species

ComplexBiology Habitat

SpecificityEconomic

Importance

Target Specie

sBycatch Ecological

Importance Score Result

Species 1

Species 2

Species 3

Species 4

Action 1 Alternative 3(Stepwise Approach)

Species Biology Habitat Specificity

Economic Importance

Target Species

Bycatch Ecological Importance

Score Outcome

species X

Species that don’t meet the criteria above to be IN or OUT proceed for

consideration to the table below

IN - Species in FMP

OUT - Species not in FMP

Above threshold

Below threshold

Landings are

available

If most of the occurrence is in

state waters, the species is

out

Protected or

Overfished

If currently listed as

overfished, the species is in

Landings Threshold

If landing threshold met, the species is in

State vs. Federal

Species is out of the

FMP

Species is in the FMP

Species without reported

landings are out

St. Croix commercial landings

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA Fisheries | Page 12

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St. Croix commercial landings

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA Fisheries | Page 13

species 2012 landings2013 landings mean landingsLOBSTERS, SPINY 86,947 59,398 73,173 PARROTFISH, STOPLIGHT 41,869 33,773 37,821 DOLPHIN 34,832 35,566 35,199 CONCH, QUEEN 36,771 21,431 29,101 TRIGGERFISH, QUEEN 22,262 13,646 17,954 PARROTFISH, PRINCESS 18,140 15,265 16,702 WAHOO 8,678 24,413 16,545 PARROTFISH, QUEEN 17,475 14,958 16,217 PARROTFISH, REDFIN 15,331 16,264 15,798 HIND, RED 17,225 13,327 15,276 PARROTFISH, REDTAIL 12,684 14,176 13,430 PARROTFISH, REDBAND 13,264 12,964 13,114 SNAPPER, BLACKFIN 11,508 14,542 13,025 BALLYHOO 10,017 14,656 12,336 TUNNY, LITTLE 5,925 18,249 12,087 MACKEREL, KING 3,944 18,842 11,393 SCHOOLMASTER 13,012 8,619 10,816 SNAPPER, SILK 7,969 12,944 10,456 CONEY 10,955 9,570 10,262 GRUNT, BLUESTRIPED 11,043 8,915 9,979 JACK, BAR 6,359 13,189 9,774 TANG, BLUE 11,390 8,135 9,763 GRUNT, WHITE 10,696 7,181 8,938 SNAPPER, YELLOWTAIL 9,400 7,497 8,449 SNAPPER, GRAY 7,681 6,580 7,130 SNAPPER, MUTTON 8,193 5,827 7,010 ANGELFISH, FRENCH 5,682 4,551 5,117 ANGELFISH, GRAY 6,151 2,377 4,264 SURGEON, OCEAN 4,984 2,620 3,802 SNAPPER, QUEEN 3,865 3,410 3,638

species 2012 value 2013 value mean valueLOBSTERS, SPINY 695,578 475,184 585,381DOLPHIN 229,891 234,746 232,319CONCH, QUEEN 257,395 150,019 203,707PARROTFISH, STOPLIGHT 209,344 168,865 189,105WAHOO 57,273 161,134 109,204HIND, RED 103,353 79,961 91,657TRIGGERFISH, QUEEN 111,310 68,228 89,769PARROTFISH, PRINCESS 90,700 76,323 83,512PARROTFISH, QUEEN 87,374 74,791 81,083TUNNY, LITTLE 39,107 120,456 79,782PARROTFISH, REDFIN 76,655 81,321 78,988SNAPPER, BLACKFIN 69,048 87,252 78,150MACKEREL, KING 23,667 113,052 68,360PARROTFISH, REDTAIL 63,420 70,880 67,150PARROTFISH, REDBAND 66,321 64,821 65,571SCHOOLMASTER 78,074 51,715 64,895SNAPPER, SILK 47,812 77,663 62,738BALLYHOO 50,085 73,279 61,682CONEY 65,731 57,419 61,575GRUNT, BLUESTRIPED 64,061 51,711 57,886GRUNT, WHITE 62,041 41,649 51,845SNAPPER, YELLOWTAIL 56,401 44,984 50,693JACK, BAR 31,794 65,944 48,869TANG, BLUE 56,950 40,675 48,813SNAPPER, GRAY 46,083 39,480 42,782SNAPPER, MUTTON 49,161 34,960 42,061SNAPPER, QUEEN 23,193 20,459 21,826SURGEON, OCEAN 24,920 13,100 19,010SNAPPER, MAHOGANY 15,480 18,888 17,184TUNA, YELLOWFIN 29,932 4,171 17,052

Species Selection CriteriaIsland-based FMPs

• Concept of Thresholds• Are there upper and

lower thresholds (lbs,$) for inclusion and/or exclusion of species?

• Where would thresholds be applied?

• Can concept of Ecosystem Component Species be applied?

Habitat Specificity Range Economic ImportanceTarget Species Bycatch Yearly Mean LandingsEcological Value Protected/Managed Resource

Species Selection Criteria Concept of Thresholds

• St. Thomas/St.John – 101 species (or groups)• St. Croix – 99 species• Puerto Rico–Commercial – 174 species–Recreational – 226 species

• All included species need ACLs

Species Selection Criteria Concept of Thresholds

Example: Puerto Rico commercial landings• 48 “species” within 99% cumulative landings• 125 species above 99%• Those above range from 3,000 lbs to 1 lb average• But include – Nassau, goliath, yellowfin & yellowedge groupers– Rainbow parrotfish– Cubera, dog, gray, schoolmaster & mahogony snappers– Sharks and rays

• Problems with FMUs and data at family level

Draft Criteria• Biology – defined as question of

vulnerability/productivity. Is species particularly at risk?• Habitat Specificity– defined as a question of vulnerability

due to particular dependence on limited or vulnerable habitat during some life stage

• Range – defined as whether species is either 1) effectively limited to local waters, 2) limited to EEZ, 3) spans both, or 4) is a HMS [=State vs EEZ]

• Economic Importance – defined as total economic value, not just ex-vessel price. This would include, for example, nonconsumptive use, recreational value, targeted species, “filler” species and socio-cultural importance

Draft Criteria• Target species vs Bycatch• Landings – to be used first to establish lower and upper

thresholds for automatic rejection from or inclusion in an FMP, respectively.

• Ecological Value Importance– defined as having a unique or large ecological function relative to habitat (esp. coral reefs), or trophic/community structure, e.g., keystone species, apex predator, key forage species such that management is needed to sustain that function.

• Protected/Management Status – defined as whether the species is fully protected or partially protected within an existing management framework within EEZ or local waters

Recommendations to CFMC

• DAP Puerto Rico PR DAP meeting March 11 2015.docx

• DAP St. Thomas/St. John STT DAP meeting March 18 2015.docx

• DAP St. Croix STX DAP meeting March 16 2015.docx

• SSC SSC Report March 2015 draft.docx

Choosing Species to Manage in the U.S. Caribbean

DISCUSSION REVISED Alternative Approach 3 (DAPs): 3) Use a stepwise selection process:

A) Include for management those species that are classified as overfished in U.S. Caribbean waters based on NOAA Fisheries’ determination, or for which historically identified harvest is now prohibited due to their ecological importance as habitat (corals presently included in the Corals and Reef Associated Plants and Invertebrates FMP) or habitat engineers (midnight, blue, rainbow parrotfish);

B) From the remainder, exclude from federal management those species that have been determined to not occur in federal waters based on expert analysis of the species distribution and range;

C) From the remainder, consider the species as a component of the catch;

D) From the remainder, apply an integrated attributes analysis: score the remaining species using a tabular approach, with those scoring above a threshold level included for federal management.