Management Strategies for the Spiny Lobster Resources in the Western Central Atlantic: A Cooperative Approach

Abstract

Spiny lobsters, principally Panulirus argus and Panulirus laevicauda, constitute an important fishery resource for most countries in the western central Atlantic region. To address regional management strategies for this fishery, a 3-day meeting/workshop was sponsored in San Jose, Costa Rica, in November 1980 by the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI), UNDP/FAO Interregional Fisheries Development and Management Programme (WECAF Project), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Association for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE). Participants, who attended as individuals and not as official representatives of their governments, included fishery professionals from 23 countries in the western central Atlantic. Workshop discussions centered on six major topics: management objectives and the planning process, biological research, economics, regulations, administration, and cooperative programs. Consensus recommendations for enhancing the management of the spiny lobster resources in the western central Atlantic included: (1) preparation of a fishery development and management policy by those countries lacking such a policy (first priority); (2) maintenance of a basic research program to monitor stocks; (3) evaluation of the economic impacts of regulations and overcapitalization on the fishery; (4) standardization of minimum size regulations throughout the western central Atlantic region; (5) promotion of governmental administrative structures that facilitate efficient fisheries programs; and (6) acceleration of technology-transfer programs to strengthen the professional capabilities of fisheries administrators, scientists, and managers.