Natural fishery management areas in the Western Central Atlantic region

Abstract

The extent to which the region covered by the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) consists of distinct faunal regions that could be used as a basis for defining fishery management areas is examined using the distribution areas of fishes and invertebrates from FAO species-identification sheets. The region was divided into 26 areas, and the occurrence of species in four groups—demersal fishes, pelagic fishes, molluscs, and crustaceans—was used in a cluster analysis of the areas. The study indicates a high degree of faunal homogeneity. However, if for logistic reasons it were necessary to define management areas within the WECAFC region, three major areas could be considered on the basis of faunal distribution: coastal North America, including the Gulf of Mexico; coastal Central and South America, including Trinidad and Tobago; and the Caribbean islands, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, including the Bahamas. Because faunal differences between these areas are weak, especially for pelagics, other practical fishery management considerations may appropriately override biogeographic considerations. However, for the same reason, subareas within the WECAFC region cannot reasonably be considered in total isolation. Thus, it may be more appropriate to concentrate fishery management efforts along fishery-specific lines, rather than geographically.