Spiny Lobster Fishery Research Articles

Social-ecological system (SES) mapping of spiny lobster (Panulirus sp.) fisheries in Nasal Coastal Water, Bengkulu

Abstract Nasal coast is one of the areas with a fishing sector that includes lobster fishing and falls under the Indonesian Fisheries Management Area 572 (IFMA 572). However, little information on lobster fishery system in this area. This research aims to map the social-ecological system (SES) for the pronghorn spiny lobster (Panulirus penicillatus) in Nasal District, Kaur Regency, Bengkulu. This study conducted from November 2022 to February 2023 using a social-ecological system (SES) approach. The study refers that there are 34 nodes and 55 edges in the lobster fisheries connectivity parameter. The main elements in the lobster fisheries network are fishermen, fishing activity, weather, cost, fishing season, water quality, lobster, catch per unit effort, macro collectors, revenue, and catch. Those components are important in the dynamics of the SES lobster fisheries network (Panulirus spp.) in the coastal waters of Nasal District.

Adapting to climate change in a spiny lobster (Jasus edwardsii) fishery: A harvest strategy response

The complex lifecycle of spiny lobsters makes the species particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In south-eastern Australia, a regime shift in productivity was experienced during the late 1990s with evidence indicating that increased water temperatures had impacted on female size-of-maturity. Within the Southern Zone fishery of South Australia, this translated into low levels of egg production and sub-optimal fishery performance. In 2018, the harvest strategy for the fishery was reviewed with the primary focus of achieving a target percentage of unexploited egg production (%UEP) within an agreed timeframe. The proposed harvest strategy was based on a tabular harvest control rule, where catch per unit effort (CPUE) from the preceding season, as an indicator of lobster abundance, specified the following year’s total allowable commercial catch (TACC). To account for climate change impacts, the harvest strategy was assessed using a projection model where recruitment was sampled from post-regime shift years, thereby adopting a conservative approach to stock rebuilding. Results were assessed against projected trends in catch, CPUE and %UEP. In 2020, this harvest control rule was formally adopted and is now used in annual TACC setting. Observed values for key indicators have been closely aligned with projected estimates, with %UEP estimates approaching the target reference point. Specifically, %UEP has improved from 10% to 15% with the target projected to be achieved by the late 2020 s. Projections are sensitive to recruitment however, with a 21% lower recruitment scenario failing to reach target levels, thereby reinforcing the need to account for climate change impacts in harvest strategy testing.

Addressing complexity and diversity in the sustainable transitions of spiny lobster fisheries in Quintana Roo, Mexico

This study articulates five dimensions of territorial governance (social capital, leadership, transparency, accountability, socioenvironmental innovations, and commercialization routes) to construct a tripartite typology that helps explain the diverse sustainable transitions of small-scale fisheries in specific territorial contexts. The types are: 1) participative-inclusive governance expressed in solid institutions dedicated to environmental conservation; 2) exclusive-conflictive governance which generates institutions that are fragile for environmental conservation; and 3) transitional governance toward inclusion and responsible fishing, seen in communities that are implementing social and organizational changes to reduce overexploitation of fishing resources. Intensive fieldwork was conducted in localities devoted to spiny lobster fishing along the coast of Quintana Roo. We also held 106 interviews with key actors in governance. Results show that articulating intra- and extra-territorial networks is vitally important in developing the kinds of socioenvironmental innovations that can help local fishermen respond to the multiple environmental, economic, and political contingencies that affect their territories. We conclude that it is necessary to articulate institutional changes on various territorial scales to propel sustainable transitions that are realistic and feasible for small-scale fishers in marginalized communities in countries of the Global South.

Regional differences in fishing behavior determine whether a marine reserve network enhances fishery yield

A network of marine reserves can enhance yield in depleted fisheries by protecting populations, particularly large, old spawners that supply larvae for interspersed fishing grounds. The ability of marine reserves to enhance sustainable fisheries is much less evident. We report empirical evidence of a marine reserve network improving yield regionally for a sustainable spiny lobster fishery, apparently through the spillover of adult lobsters and behavioral adaptation by the fishing fleet. Results of a Before-After, Control-Impact analysis found catch, effort, and Catch-Per-Unit Effort increased after the establishment of marine reserves in the northern region of the fishery where fishers responded by fishing intensively at reserve borders, but declined in the southern region where they vacated once productive fishing grounds. The adaptation of the northern region of the fishery may have been aided by a history of collaboration between fishers, scientists, and managers, highlighting the value of collaborative research and education programs for preparing fisheries to operate productively within a seascape that includes a large marine reserve network.

Preliminary assessment of the spiny lobster (Panulirus spp) fishery in Northern Catanduanes Philippines

Preliminary assessment of the spiny lobster (Panulirus spp) fishery in Northern Catanduanes Philippines

A New Record of Panulirus homarus homarus (Panulirus spp.) from Malaysia Waters with its Molecular Phylogeny

Spiny lobsters Panulirus spp. of the family Palinuridae Latreille, 1802 occupies the shallow tropical and subtropical waters (<100 m depth). These species are ubiquitous and abundant, yet knowledge of its range, biodiversity, and population abundance in Malaysia is limited. Panulirus homarus is listed as “Least Concern” along with other 11 species out of 21 spiny lobster species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) red list in 2022. A total of five species were reported from Malaysia waters. Whilst, this study reports the sixth spiny lobster species, Panulirus homarus homarus, with morphology and molecular genetic information (Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene) provided. The p-distance within P. h. homarus was 0.2 – 0.6%, n = 12; between P. h. homarus with P. h. rubellus and P. homarus “Brown” was 6.4 – 6.8%, n = 12 and 0.8 – 3.3%, n = 12, respectively. Intra-species p-distance within Panulirus spp. was below 3%, while inter-species was above 10%. This validates the collected specimen as P. h. homarus and P. h. rubellus is the subspecies, but leaving P. h. “Brown” taxonomic status unclear. Thus, genetic information is important in solving many of these systematic and taxonomic problems, because often these species are difficult to distinguished based on morphological criteria. A key to all Panulirus spp. identified in Malaysia waters was constructed. This study updates the marine biodiversity list in Malaysia, where the acquisition of biological knowledge is vital to the protection of the world’s natural resources as well as to the sustainable management of spiny lobster fisheries.

Evidence of Considerable Shifts in Catch Composition in the Artisanal Spiny Lobster Fishery in Kenya.

The artisanal lobster fishery in Kenya is small in world terms but important locally both in terms of supporting local fishing communities and generating revenue for the government. Despite its socioeconomic importance, detailed knowledge of many aspects of the fishery is lacking. The study reported herein aimed to investigate and provide information on the population structure and catch composition of spiny lobsters caught by artisanal fishers off six major landing sites along the coastline. A total of 2711 lobsters representing five palinurid species were collected during the study period (November 2000-March 2001). Among the five species, Panulirus longipes dominated the catches in Msambweni (75%) and Shimoni (58%), P. homarus in Mambrui (70%) and Kipini (72%), P. ornatus in Lamu (49%), and P. penicillatus in Kilifi (39%). P. versicolor was the rarest species observed in the catches across the six sites. The overall catch consisted of 33% P. ornatus, 32% P. homarus, 28% P. longipes, 6% P. penicillatus and 2% P. versicolor. Sitewise, Lamu contributed 31% of the overall catch, Kipini 23%, Shimoni 20%, Mambrui 13%, Msambweni 7%, and Kilifi 6%. A comparison of the results of this study and lobster abundance data from 1970s surveys revealed considerable shifts in the catch composition of artisanal landings over time. Future work on this fishery should concentrate on the lobster populations in the decades-old marine protected areas to obtain unfished reference data to assess the fishery and establish the underlying cause(s) of the observed shifts in catch composition.

Data intermediate assessment: Examining the suitability of a novel depletion model for use in a spiny lobster fishery

The choice of assessment technique for a fishery with some, but not large amounts of data (intermediate data fishery), can be complex and depends on their suitability to the available data set(s) at an optimum resolution and appropriateness of model assumptions. Various “appropriate” techniques may have different output biases and understanding these is essential for robust fisheries management. We tested the suitability of an extended depletion model to assess a crustacean population using simulated data that replicated fishing patterns of a southern rock lobster (SRL) fishery in Western Australia. This simulation showed the model was appropriate for use and robust to assumptions including predetermined parameter choice and whether lobsters moulted during the fitted period. Although natural mortality was shown to have the biggest influence on model outputs (when compared to assumptions on moulting and fishing efficiency), its actual impact was minimal. When applied to the SRL resource off Western Australia, the model indicated that the stock has been heavily fished and reduced to almost 20 % of virgin levels. In recent years exploitation rates have declined due to external factors such as market access. This has resulted in a rapid increase in biomass, and model projections suggest that, with current catches, the biomass will return to 50 % of virgin levels within 10 years. Testing the modelling approach on a fishery with intermediate data provisions through simulation, has provided confidence in applying this technique to derive improved estimates for management.

Multi-model approach for growth analysis of Evibacus princeps Smith, 1869 (Decapoda, Scyllaridae) in the Gulf of California

Abstract In Mexico, the spiny lobster fishery is well established but this is not the case with the slipper lobster fishery. For a sustainable fishery, many biological traits must be known, one of which is growth. The objective of the present study was to probe the multi-model approach to identify the curve that best describes the growth of Evibacus princeps from the Gulf of California. Specimens were collected aboard commercial trawlers during the industrial shrimp fishing season (October 2021-March 2022) at depths ranging from 10 to 55 m. Five versions of the Schnute model (including the Von Bertalanffy model) were applied and the best model was selected using the Bayesian information criterion. The estimation of an average model was performed because no model obtained 90% of the evidence. E. princeps from the Gulf of California exhibit an indeterminate growth pattern.

Spawning potential ratio of comercially important spiny lobster in Donggala Waters Central Sulawesi

Currently, spiny lobster fishery in Indonesia ranks third as an export commodity from the crustacean subphylum after shrimp and blue swimming crab – mud crab. Most of the spiny lobster export needs still rely on wild population resulting in fishing pressure. To ensure the sustainability of spiny lobster stocks, information of the Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) is needed. This study aims to analyze SPR of spiny lobsters of Panulirus femoristriga and P. versicolor species. The research was conducted in May − November 2022 in Donggala Regency waters. SPR analysis uses the Length-Based SPR method. The results showed that the stock status of P. femoristriga and P. versicolor had experienced growth overfishing and recruitment overfishing with estimated SPRs of 17 and 11%, respectively. Fishing regulations are needed to maintain a sustainable spiny lobster fishery through increased participation of stakeholders in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the regulations set by the government. In addition, it is necessary to reduce of efforts 27 − 33% from the current exploitation rate to E50 0.28.

Fishermen’s perceptions of constraints on adaptive capacity in the California market squid and California spiny lobster fisheries

Planning for resiliency in the face of unprecedented environmental change requires understanding the factors that constrain fishermen’s capacity to adapt. Scholars have highlighted numerous factors that may facilitate or constrain fishermen’s adaptive capacity, but ultimately fishermen act based on their own perceptions of their ability to respond and adapt to change within their broader social, environmental, and governance context. Subjective assessments of adaptive capacity are limited, yet critical, given that in the face of stressors, people’s actions are facilitated or constrained by their subjective perceptions of their capacity to take action. Using fishermen interviews and feedback sessions, we explored fishermen’s perceptions of constraints on their ability to adapt to change in two fisheries in the California Current System: California spiny lobster and California market squid. Our comparative assessment revealed important similarities and differences with regard to the likelihood that fishermen would perceive a given factor as a constraint, as well as the extent to which different domains of adaptive capacity, including diversity and flexibility in livelihood options, knowledge, and access to physical and financial capital, influence fishermen’s perceptions of constraints. Constraints relating to fishery governance, including permit access, fishery regulations, and broader concerns with fishery management were the most commonly perceived constraints in both fisheries. Individual-level constraints including mobility and knowledge of other fisheries and fishing locations were less frequently cited and significantly more likely to be perceived as constraints by spiny lobster fishermen than market squid fishermen. Our results highlight the importance of considering interactions between factors constraining different elements of adaptive capacity given that the broader governance context of fisheries can inhibit individual-level adaptive strategies. Overcoming barriers to adaptation necessitates planned and participatory governance processes that strengthen fishermen’s individual agency and ability to take meaningful action in the face of change.

Reflecting on 25 years of quota management in a spiny lobster fishery: Lessons learned from a harvest strategy perspective

The Southern Zone rock lobster fishery of South Australia has been managed by individual transferable quotas since 1993, with annual catch limits set using harvest strategy decision rules. This work describes the performance of strategies over 25 years focusing on challenges experienced during periods of poor fishery recruitment. Early strategies identified indicators and performance ranges for the fishery but lacked detail on required management action when reference points were breached. Between 2002 and 2009, the fishery experienced a considerable decline in recruitment resulting in catch rate, the primary indicator, decreasing by 70%. The harvest strategy in place failed to reduce catch levels appropriately and despite consecutive years of decreasing catch rate, was unable to arrest the fishery decline. Explicit harvest control rules for quota setting were developed in 2010 and refined in both 2014 and 2019, with the specific focus of ensuring sustainability and rebuilding lobster biomass. Application of these strategies have been successful at achieving this objective, most notably since 2015. The study highlights that harvest strategies must include control rules that respond rapidly to recruitment declines. Specifically, based on harvest strategy testing and evaluation, required levels of quota reduction should be clearly defined. In combination with limit reference points that mandate the point of fishery closure, metarules and quota caps that promote biomass increase, such strategies serve to meet fishery objectives and ensure sustainability.

Exploring the potential use of escape gaps in the Florida spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, fishery

The spiny lobster fishery in Florida uses live, sublegal-size lobsters as bait in the approximately 450,000 traps currently permitted in the fishery. Live baits increase the catch of traps, yet confinement in traps compromises lobster health and causes mortality. We conducted a field experiment to test the suitability of traps fitted with escape gaps to address a priority need for reducing catch and mortality of sublegal-size lobsters and other species in Florida’s spiny lobster trap fishery. We then modeled the potential effect of escape gaps on the Florida commercial spiny lobster trap fishery (via a Monte Carlo simulation technique) to identify the effect on fishery harvest. We measured catch rates and mortality of lobsters in traps with or without a 54 mm escape gap and baited with either a live sublegal-size lobster, a live legal-size lobster, or left unbaited. The relationship between catch in traps fitted with escape gaps vs. catch in control traps determined from the field experiment was applied to commercial fishery landings data from 2010 to 2018 and used to model changes in harvest as result of implementing escape gaps and baiting with a legal-size lobster. We found that traps with escape gaps nearly eliminated catch of sublegal-size lobsters in traps, which would lower mortality caused by such confinement and potentially allow hundreds of thousands of lobsters to remain in the population. Alternatively, replacing live bait lobsters every two weeks reduced bait mortality by half in our field experiment; thus, mortality of sublegal-size lobsters used as bait in the fishery could be reduced through frequent release of bait lobsters. Escape gaps also reduced fish bycatch, including some in the snapper-grouper management complex. Traps with escape gaps and baited with legal-size lobsters caught ~27% ± 16% fewer legal-size lobsters than control lobster traps baited with a sublegal-size lobster. However, these traps caught as many legal-size lobsters as control lobster traps baited with sublegal-size lobsters when lobster abundance was high, demonstrating that self-baiting of traps is density dependent. Although traps with escape gaps caught fewer legal-size lobsters per trap, fishery modeling indicated that increased survival of sublegal-size lobsters could increase landings by the second to fourth year after implementation of escape gaps, depending on which model assumptions are used to predict landings.

Increasing spillover enhances southern California spiny lobster catch along marine reserve borders

AbstractThe conservation benefits of marine reserves are well established but their contribution to adjacent fisheries via spillover is less certain and context‐dependent. Theoretical predictions do not always match empirical evidence from individual reserves, so carefully designed studies are essential for accurately assessing spillover and its contribution to fisheries. Biomass buildup within reserves, and spillover from reserve borders, also usually takes time to develop. In 2003, a network of no‐take marine reserves was established in the Northern Channel Islands (NCI) of southern California (CA) to conserve biodiversity and to eventually enhance local fisheries through spillover of larvae, juveniles, and adults. The reserve network impacted the local CA spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery by removing about 20% of fishing grounds in the NCI. In 2008, a collaborative fisheries research effort detected substantial lobster population increases within reserves, and an indication of the possible spillover of adult lobsters across reserve borders. To estimate whether and how much populations within reserves, and spillover from reserves, have increased through time, we repeated the sampling program 10 years later in 2018 at two of the three original reserves. Scientific trapping was conducted prior to the fishing season along a spatial gradient beginning deep within the reserves to reference sites located outside (≥2 km) of reserve borders. Results showed that legal‐sized lobster abundance in traps (catch per unit effort) increased by 125%–465% deep inside reserves, and by 223%–331% at sites near to reserve borders, and by nearly 400% just outside of reserve borders over the 10‐year period, thus indicating a substantial increase in spillover across reserve borders. A similar pattern was observed in lobster biomass caught in traps at the two reserves. This study demonstrates how spillover scales with biomass buildup and that collaborative fisheries research can be used to assess the efficacy of marine reserves as fishery management tools worldwide.

Analysis of spiny lobster fishery sustainability the using ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) in Pulo Aceh

The high exploitation rate due to increasing global demand caused spiny lobster vulnerable to overfishing. this study aims to assess the sustainability status of lobster fisheries, through the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) and to examine the appropriate strategies to support the sustainability of spiny lobster fisheries in Pulo Aceh Islands, Aceh Besar district, Aceh Province. Indicators or domains used in this study are fish resources, habitats, and ecosystems, fishing techniques, economics, social, and governance, which consist of 27 attributes. Results show that the aggregate value of fish resources domain is 59.22 (moderate), habitat and ecosystem domain is 39.14, (poor), fishing technique domain is 28.62 (poor), the economic domain is 65 (good), social domain is 47.82 (moderate) and the institutional domain is 39.89 (poor). The overall aggregate value for the six domains is 46.61 (moderate), the sustainability status of the spiny lobster fishery in Pulo Aceh is in the moderate category. the fish resource domain and the economic domain are the main domains that provide a positive value for the sustainability of the lobster fishery in Pulo Aceh. However, to improve the status of lobster fisheries management in Pulo Aceh; should focus on domains that have low-value categories, which are; fishing techniques, habitats and ecosystems, and governance domain.Keywords:Spiny LobsterPulo Aceh IslandsSustainabilityManagement Strategy

Assessment of the Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Spp.) Fishery and Implications for Management in Eastern Visayas, Philippines

Assessment of the Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Spp.) Fishery and Implications for Management in Eastern Visayas, Philippines

The potential of the spiny lobster fishery in Aceh waters: A short review

The western-southern and northern coastal waters of Aceh are the potential fishing areas of spiny lobster, which faces the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea. Fishing gears that are widely used are lobster gill nets and hand-picking with compressors. In Indonesia, seven species of spiny lobsters are caught in these waters, including Panulirus homarus, P. penicillatus, P. versicolor, P. ornatus, P. polyphagus, P. longipes longipes, and P. longipes femoristiga. The habitat for spiny lobsters is spread from coral reefs, rock, sand, and muddy sand. Panulirus homarus is the most frequently caught species in these waters, followed by P. penicillatus and P. longipes. Panulirus homarus is mainly caught during the dry season (southwest wind) and high waves (May to July), where other lobster species experience a significant decrease in the catch. The stock of spiny lobster in Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 572 (including Aceh coastal waters) has been in an overfishing condition since 2008. Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of spiny lobster in Aceh coastal waters part of Malacca Strait (FMA 571) is 188.60 tons.yr−1 with a total allowable catch (TAC) of 151.10 tons. yr−1. Furthermore, the MSY for Aceh coastal waters part of Indian Ocean is 292.09 tons.yr−1 with a TAC of 233.92 tons.yr−1. Spiny lobster fishing in Aceh coastal waters must ensure its use in the future, both ecologically, socially, and economically.

A Comparison of Three Data-Poor Stock Assessment Methods for the Pink Spiny Lobster Fishery in Mauritania

Several data-poor stock assessment methods have recently been proposed and applied to data-poor fisheries around the world. The Mauritanian pink spiny lobster fishery has a long history of boom and bust dynamics, with large landings, stock collapse, and years-long fishery closures, all happening several times. In this study, we have used catch, fishing efforts, and length-frequency data (LFD) obtained from the fishery in its most recent period of activity, 2015–2019, and historical annual catch records starting in 2006 to fit three data-poor stock assessment methods. These were the length-based Bayesian (LBB) method, which uses LFD exclusively, the Catch-only MSY (CMSY) method, using annual catch data and assumptions about stock resilience, and generalised depletion models in the R package CatDyn combined with Pella-Tomlinson biomass dynamics in a hierarchical inference framework. All three methods presented the stock as overfished. The LBB method produced results that were very pessimistic about stock status but whose reliability was affected by non-constant recruitment. The CMSY method and the hierarchical combination of depletion and Pella-Tomlinson biomass dynamics produced more comparable results, such as similar sustainable harvest rates, but both were affected by large statistical uncertainty. Pella-Tomlinson dynamics in particular demonstrated stock experiencing wide fluctuations in abundance. In spite of uncertain estimates, a clear understanding of the status of the stock as overfished and in need of a biomass rebuilding program emerged as management-useful guidance to steer exploitation of this economically significant resource into sustainability.

Evidence that spillover from Marine Protected Areas benefits the spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery in southern California

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designed to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services. Some MPAs are also established to benefit fisheries through increased egg and larval production, or the spillover of mobile juveniles and adults. Whether spillover influences fishery landings depend on the population status and movement patterns of target species both inside and outside of MPAs, as well as the status of the fishery and behavior of the fleet. We tested whether an increase in the lobster population inside two newly established MPAs influenced local catch, fishing effort, and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) within the sustainable California spiny lobster fishery. We found greater build-up of lobsters within MPAs relative to unprotected areas, and greater increases in fishing effort and total lobster catch, but not CPUE, in fishing zones containing MPAs vs. those without MPAs. Our results show that a 35% reduction in fishing area resulting from MPA designation was compensated for by a 225% increase in total catch after 6-years, thus indicating at a local scale that the trade-off of fishing ground for no-fishing zones benefitted the fishery.

Unveiling Women’s Roles and Inclusion in Mexican Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF)

The contributions of women to fisheries are often invisible, ignored, and unrecognized even though they represent 47% of the global fisheries workforce, especially in pre- and post-production activities. Poor data systems lead to incorrect assumptions about the gender division of labor in fisheries. This causes the role of women in fisheries to be overlooked. To evaluate the contribution of women in the value chain, a participatory methodology was implemented in three small-scale, fisheries in Mexico: California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery from the northern Mexican Pacific, penshell (Atrina maura) fishery from the Gulf of California, and Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery from the Mesoamerican Reef region. This study shows an unequal inclusion of men and women as members of the fishing cooperatives where only 4%, 5%, and 20% are women in spiny lobster, red lobster, and penshell, respectively, and in the distribution of direct jobs (1 out of 6.7 jobs was held by a woman). These results indicate limited opportunities for women to access leadership positions. However, the participation percentages increased dramatically when we considered the fishery system (i.e., both direct and indirect jobs), with women accounting for 43%, 21%, and 37% of the California spiny lobster, penshell, and Caribbean spiny lobster fishery workforce, respectively. Women represented 39% of the workforce in pre-production activities, 2% in production, 29% in post-production, and 56% in complementary to production. Women tended to participate in two or more activities at the same time, generally combining work, household, and community activities. The participation of women in fisheries could be equivalent to a second working day, and even when this effort is present in similarly in three fisheries, their contribution is yet to be acknowledged in order to incorporate women in decision-making. The analysis of the value chain and the fishery system provided a more realistic picture of the contribution of women to fisheries than an analysis focused solely on extraction. This work further analyzed the importance and degree of participation of women in fishing cooperatives and the decision-making process. Strategies to reduce gender disparity are needed to encourage inclusion of women in fisheries decision-making.