Commercial Trip Limits Recreational Bag Limits Queen Conch Compatibility in Federal and USVI Territorial Waters 144 th Council Meeting December 19-20, 2012

2 Queen Conch Harvest Open Season : November 1 - May 31 St. Croix EEZ

3 143 rd Caribbean Council Meeting August 28-29, 2012 Motion to instruct the staff to prepare a document to make the queen conch EEZ regulations compatible with the USVI.

4 Purpose for Action To establish compatible regulations for the harvest of queen conch between the U.S. EEZ and USVI territorial regulations. Compatibility of regulations will aid in the enforcement of such regulations and allow for better control of fishing pressure on the queen conch resource.

Jurisdiction Harvest Quota Closure Landing Restrictions Commercial and Recreational Limits Gear Restrictions Size Limits (Minimum) Federal waters (East of 64°34' W. long., which includes Lang Bank, STX, USVI) 50,000 lbs ACL (Season closes when STX territorial limit is reached and closed) Jun 1 - Oct 31 (5 months) Conch in or from the EEZ must be maintained with meat and shell intact. Commercial: 150 conchs pers./day Recreational : 3 conchs/ pers./day or if more than 4 pers., 12/boat/day No hookah gear allowed 9-in shell length from the spire to the distal end, or 3/8 inch lip thickness USVI waters 50,000 lbs – STX 50,000 lbs – STT/STJ Conch must be landed alive and whole in the shell at final landing site Commercial: 200 conchs/ boat/day Recreational: 6 conchs/ pers./day, or 24 boat/day Hookah use not prohibited but proposed to be restricted No possession of conch meats smaller than 2 conchs per pound uncleaned or 3 conchs per pound cleaned. Puerto Rico waters --- Aug 1 - Oct 31 (3 months) Conch can be extracted from shell while on boat, but not underwater in PR waters 3 pers./day or a max. of 12/boat/day No hookah gear allowed Min. size of 9-in shell length from the spire to the distal end, or 3/8 inch lip thickness

6 Federal vs. Territorial Management What is not compatible? FederalUSVI (St. Croix) Commercial Trip Limits 150 conchs per licensed fisherman per day 200 conchs per boat per day Recreational Bag Limits 3 conchs per person per day Max.12 conch per boat per day 6 conch per person per day Max. 24 conch per boat per day Other management measures not compatible Hookah gearBanned in federal waters Not prohibited, but proposed to be banned. Landed meat weight -- No possession of conch meats smaller than two uncleaned conch per pound or three cleaned conch per pound.

7 Option 1: Modify the trip limit for the commercial harvest of queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ Alternative 1 No Action. No change to current commercial trip limit. No more than 150 queen conchs per licensed fisherman per day. Alternative 2 Commercial trip limit compatible with the USVI. No more than 200 queen conchs per boat per day. Alternative 3 No more than 150 queen conch per day if there is one licensed commercial fisherman on board, or no more than 200 queen conch per boat per day if more than one licensed commercial fisherman is on board.

8 Option 2: Modify the bag limit for the recreational harvest of queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ Alternative 1 No Action. No change to current recreational bag limits: 3 conchs per person per day, no more than 12 conchs per boat per day Alternative 2 Recreational bag limit compatible with the USVI: 6 conchs per person per day, no more than 24 conchs per boat

Conch Meat weight requirements - USVI “No possession of conch meats smaller than two uncleaned conch per pound or three cleaned conch per pound” Federal, USVI, and Puerto Rico regulations: Minimum shell length size of 9 inches from the spire to the distal end of shell or 3/8 inch lip thickness. Requiring conch to be landed in the shell protects immature queen conch, and reduces the number that can be housed aboard a fishing vessel. Although the USVI has the requirement of landing the conch in shell; it is not clear how this measure is currently enforced. Issues: Landing sites for shells Safety at sea

Check condition of mature external reproductive parts (seen in mature individuals before cleaning) Male Pictures: D. Arana Female The meat-size ratio requires that conch be removed from the shell and can not be returned unharmed to the water if it is undersized. In addition to shell length: 9” TL or 3/8” LT and 2 unclean, 3 clean to the pound – to be verified on arrival at dock or at sea.

Puerto Rico Recreational Sector  Exceeding state bag limits – 3conchs p/p, max 12 p/boat  Harvesting illegal sizes  Selling conch Other Issues International / Other Issues  ESA Listing Petition – Fishermen need update  CITES – Fishermen want import of conch to be prohibited during seasonal closure  Illegal aliens harvesting conch

 Motion to ask staff to complete the regulatory amendment 2 to the queen conch FMP and schedule for a public hearing and final action at our march meeting.  R. Crabtree, W. Ledee. Unanimously approved.

13 Option 1: Modify the trip limit for the commercial harvest of queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ The ACL for queen conch in the U.S. Caribbean EEZ is 50,000 lbs., which is compatible with the St. Croix territorial quota of 50,000 lbs. Accountability measures will close the fishery when the ACL / territorial quota is reached. Modifying the allowed trip limit would affect the rate at which the ACL is harvested. This option would not have any overall effect on the total amount of harvest that is currently allowed in the EEZ.

14 St. Thomas/St. JohnSt. CroixU.S. Virgin Islands # of Fishermen % of Fishermen # of Fishermen % of Fishermen # of Fishermen % of Fisherm en Fish Alone1216.2%1613%2814.2% Fish with helpers6587.8% % % Fish with other commercial fishermen %4536.6%6332% # Responses Although usually one license holder and his helpers will go out on a boat, it is not rare for a vessel to have multiple license holders onboard, two being the most common number. Percentage of fishermen that fished alone and with others in (Source: Kojis and Quinn 2011)

Option 1: Commercial Trip Limits Alternative 1 NO ACTION No change to current commercial trip limit No cap = possibility of too much harvest if more than one licensed person is on board. Enforcement issues would continue (e.g., if > 1 lic. holder on board, total number of conch that can then be harvested, transit through territorial waters with conch harvested in the EEZ). Continuing fishing in the EEZ at that effort could potentially cause the queen conch fishing season to be shortened. Alternative 2 Commercial trip limit compatible with the USVI Compatibility = efficiency in enforcement If only one licensed person on board, the licensed person would be able to harvest 200 conchs instead of 150, a higher limit than what is currently allowed in federal waters. However, this higher harvest would only affect the rate at which the ACL is achieved. Alternative 3 If only one licensed fisher, harvest limit of 150 conchs, with no potential effect on the rate at which the ACL is achieved. May have enforcement issues when only one licensed person is on board.

Option 2: Recreational Bag Limit Alternative 1 No Action No change to current recreational bag limit Not compatible with USVI. Would continue enforcement issues. Alternative 2 Recreational Bag Limit compatible with the USVI 1) Little recreational fishing for queen conch in the EEZ. In territorial waters, no data of number of recreational pounds of conch harvested, recreational harvest may be more than the current USVI bag limits. 2) Fishery is closed down based on the catch that occurs in the commercial sector. Fishing for all sectors is closed (federal and state) when quota is reached. Increasing the bag limits could create or enhance a race for fish that would not be reflected in the landings, and therefore not be addressed by the STX ACL. 3) Queen conch is classified as an overfished species. Although only commercial harvest is monitored, the 50,000 lbs ACL in the EEZ serves as a proxy for the harvest that is occurring in both sectors of the fishery. The ACL is assumed to be sufficient at the moment to prevent overfishing from occurring; increasing the bag limit could potentially change the balance that was used to establish the 50,000 lbs ACL for the STX sector. Analyses of this alternative should prove that doubling the amount of recreational harvest would not result in overfishing and that the current ACL would still be a reasonable proxy for an ACL.

Conch Meat weight requirements - USVI Considered (and rejected) in the Queen Conch FMP (1996) as a replacement measure to overall shell length. Weight of conch is highly variable. Queen conch may exhibit small size shells among fully mature individuals in some places and large shelled but still immature conchs in other areas Best relationship found between lip thickness and sexual maturity. Conch stops growing in shell length when they mature. After this, growth is only expressed in shell thickness. Immature (left) and mature (right) conch from two neighboring fishing grounds in The Bahamas (Source: Ehrnhardt and Valle-Esquivel for CFMC, 2008).