SPINY LOBSTER (Panulirus argus)

1
SPINY LOBSTER(Panulirus argus)

• Implementation of a minimum possession size

2
Possession Size Limit

• DNA analysis indicates a single stock structure
  for the Caribbean spiny lobster (Lipcius and
  Cobb, 1994 Silberman and Walsh 1994) throughout
  its range.
• Approximately 90 percent of the Caribbean spiny
  lobster marketed in
• the United States is
• harvested by foreign
• fisheries managed
• by Central and South
• America countries.

3
Management Alternatives
Alternative Carapace length
2 gt 3.0 inches 3.5 inches in or from the Caribbean
3 3.25 inches 3.5 inches in or from the Caribbean
4 3.5 inches
5 None given

• Action 1 Minimum Possession Size of Spiny
  Lobster products in the United States Carapace
  Length Requirement

4
Rationale for Alternatives

• Alternative 2 would establish a minimum
  possession size equal to the least restrictive
  regulations for domestic spiny lobster harvest
  (the Gulf and South Atlantic spiny lobster FMP)

5
Rationale for Alternatives

• Alternative 3 would provide better resource
  protection. Most scientists would agree that with
  the increase in fishing pressure the average size
  of lobster captured is now below the size which
  allows reproduction of 50 of the females before
  they are harvested.

6
Rationale for Alternatives

• Alternative 4 would establish a minimum
  possession size equal to the more restrictive
  regulations for domestic spiny lobster harvest
  (Caribbean spiny lobster FMP)

7
Management Alternatives

• Action 1 Minimum Possession Size of Spiny
  Lobster products to the United States Tail
  Length Requirement

Alternative Tail length
2 5.5 inches
3 5.9 inches
4 6.2 inches
5 5.7 inches
8
Rationale for Alternatives

• All tail length measurements are based on
  Matthews et al., 2003 conversions from carapace
  length (CL) to tail length
• Tail length 1.71CL12.19
• Alternative 5 uses tail weight (industry
  standard) then derives a tail length form that
  weight

9
Management Alternatives

• Action 1 Minimum Possession Size of Spiny
  Lobster products to the United States Tail
  Weight Requirement

Alternative Tail weight
2 4.2 oz
3 5.0 oz
4 5.9 oz
5 4.5 oz
10
Rationale for Alternatives

• All tail weight measurements are based on
  Matthews et al., 2003 conversions from carapace
  length (CL) to tail weight
• Tail weight 0.0007762?CL2.76273
• Alternative 5 uses tail weight (industry
  standard) as the primary measurement

11
Rationale for Alternatives

• Industry Packing - The seafood industry imports
  lobster tails based on sorted weight categories
• Therefore, a given tail weight category must be
  defined (i.e., Alternative 2 considers a 5 oz
  tail to be any tail in the range of 4.2 - 5.4 oz)

12
Management Alternatives
Alternative Tail weight
2 4.2 oz 5 oz tail 4.2 - 5.4 oz
3 5.0 oz 5 oz tail 5.0 - 5.9 oz
4 5.9 oz 6 oz tail 5.9 - 6.9 oz
5 4.5 oz 5 oz tail 4.5 - 5.4 oz
13
Management Alternatives

• Action 2 Other Possession Restrictions
• Alternative 2 Prohibit possession of lobster
  tail meat
• Alternative 3 Prohibit possession of spiny
  lobster with eggs attached or possession where
  the eggs, swimmerets, or pleopods have been
  removed or stripped

14
Management Alternatives

• Action 3 Develop a Framework to the FMP for the
  Spiny Lobster Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S.
  Virgin Islands and the Spiny Lobster FMP for the
  Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic