[PDF] Regulatory Amendment To The Fishery Management Plan For Queen Conch Resources Of Puerto Rico And The Us Virgin Islands Establishing Compatible Closures Including A Regulatory Impact Review And An Environmental Assessment eBook
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"At the June 2009 meeting, the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) voted to amend the Fishery Management Plan for Queen Conch Resources of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.) to establish compatible regulations with U.S.V.I. territorial regulations. At the September 2010 meeting, the Council voted to submit the regulatory amendment to the Secretary for review. Currently, fishing for and possession of queen conch is prohibited in the Caribbean EEZ, with the exception of an area known as Lang Bank east of St. Croix, which is open to harvest of queen conch from October 1 through June 30. In St. Croix, U.S.V.I. territorial waters, queen conch is managed under a 50,000 pound quota and a seasonal closure from June 1 through October 31. The rule will implement compatible closures with the U.S.V.I. territorial regulations to close the queen conch fishery after the local government has determined the quota in St. Croix has been reached. The rule will also extend the seasonal closure in federal waters to June 1 through October 31, each year, consistent with the territorial seasonal closure"--Cover letter.
"The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council), in collaboration with the National Marine Fisheries Service, prepared Regulatory Amendment 2 to the Queen Conch Fishery Management Plan to address compatibility issues in the harvest of queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Fishing and possession of queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ is only allowed in the area of Lang Bank, to the east of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). However, current regulations regarding the commercial trip limit and the recreational bag limit for the harvest of queen conch in federal waters are not compatible with USVI regulations. Compatibility of regulations is a means of enhancing enforcement efficiency. The current trip limit in federal waters allows a licensed commercial fisherman to harvest up to 150 queen conch per day, but does not establish a harvest limit per vessel. USVI regulations allow the harvest of 200 queen conch per vessel per day regardless of the number of licensed fishermen on board. The daily recreational bag limit in federal waters allows three queen conch per person and a maximum of 12 queen conch per vessel. In contrast, the USVI daily recreational bag limit consists of six queen conch per person and a maximum of 24 per vessel. The USVI has expressed interest in having federal regulations modified to make them compatible with the territorial limits to facilitate enforcement efforts, enhance compliance by fishers, and allow for more efficient management of queen conch resources in the U.S. Caribbean. Queen conch is currently classified as an overfished species, and it is managed under a 15-year rebuilding plan. The goal of Regulatory Amendment 2 is to consider state-federal compatibility of queen conch daily harvest limits via separate actions applicable to the commercial and recreational sectors. At its 145th meeting (March 26-27, 2013), the Council chose as preferred alternatives to establish a daily commercial trip limit of 200 queen conch per vessel and to leave the recreational bag limit unchanged. Compatibility with the USVI's commercial regulations will reduce confusion among fishers and increase law enforcement efficiency. However, because the federal recreational bag limit is less than the territorial limit, the Council chose to maintain that lower bag limit as a preferred alternative. Increasing the recreational limit does little to assist law enforcement and may have negative consequences with respect to the continued health of the queen conch resource"--Summary (page iii).
"The purpose of this amendment is to revise management reference points and status determination criteria for the Caribbean queen conch, snapper, grouper, and parrotfish; specify Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Accountability Measures (AMs) for those species or units classified as undergoing overfishing to prevent overfishing of these species or units; establish framework measures to facilitate regulatory modifications; adjust management measures as needed to constrain harvest to specified annual catch limits; and minimize, to the extent practicable, negative socioeconomic impacts that may result from the amendment actions. To achieve these goals, six actions are included in the amendment. Action 1 amends the unit composition in the Reef Fish Fishery Management Unit. Action 2 revises management reference points to transition U.S. Caribbean reef fish and queen conch management from that established in the Comprehensive Sustainable Fisheries Amendment (Caribbean SFA Amendment) of 2005 (CFMC 2005) to that mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as Amended through January 12, 2007 (MSRA). Action 3 works in concert with Action 2 and provides the specific details regarding the distribution and numerical value of ACLs for the various U.S. Caribbean island groups, including Puerto Rico (PR), St. Croix (STX) in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), and the island group of St. Thomas and St. John (STT/STJ) in the USVI. Action 4 proposes management measures with specific emphasis on harvest prohibitions for three parrotfish species (midnight, blue, rainbow) that serve an essential ecological function and which are relatively large and long-lived. Action 4 also proposes recreational bag limits for reef fish. Action 5 provides alternative guidelines for triggering AMs and for applying those AMs. Finally, Action 6 establishes framework provisions separately for reef fish and queen conch. In concert, these actions serve to provide a basic foundation for reef fish and queen conch fisheries management in the U.S. Caribbean"--Executive summary (page 23).
"This amendment includes two management actions. Preferred Alternative 2 for Action 1 proposes to modify the seasonal closure of Bajo de Sico to a 6 month closure from October 1 through March 31 each year to provide better protection for red hind spawning aggregations, large snappers and groupers, and coral reef habitat. Sub-Alternative 2d defines the closure as prohibiting fishing for and possession of all reef fish species managed by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council). Preferred Alternative 3 for Action 2 proposes to prohibit anchoring year-round in Bajo de Sico to provide further EFH [essential fish habitat] protection"--Page 1.
The overall objective of this 10-year Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan is to guide the implementation of a set of identified management measures that can be applied at the regional or sub-regional level for the sustainability of queen conch populations and for the maintenance of a healthy fishery and livelihood of the people involved in the fishery. The ecosystem approach forms the basis of this Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan, enhanci ng partnerships and collaboration throughout the Wider Caribbean region to improve the long-term governance of queen conch fisheries across the Caribbean. The Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan was formulated with the following specific objectives: 1. To improve the collection and integration of scientific data needed to determine the overall queen conch population status as the basis for the application of ecosystem-based management. 2. To harmonize measures aimed a t increasing the stability of the queen conch population and to implement best-management practices for a sustainable fishery. 3. To increase coordination and collaboration toward achieving better education and outreach, monitoring and research, co-management and strengthening, optimizing and harmonizing regional governance arrangements. 4. To adopt regional management measures, which incorporate the precautionary approach