Fishery management plan for the spiny lobster fishery of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands
REGUALTORY IMPACT REVIEW 7.1 Introduction
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- 7.2 Problems and Objectives in the Fishery
- 7.3 Methodology
- 7.4 Description of the Fisheries
- 7.5.1.1 Alternative 1
7.0 REGUALTORY IMPACT REVIEW7.1 IntroductionThe NMFS requires a Regulatory Impact Review (RIR) for all regulatory actions that are of public interest. The RIR does three things: (1) it provides a comprehensive review of the level and incidence of impacts associated with a regulatory action; (2) it provides a review of the problems and policy objectives prompting the regulatory proposals and an evaluation of the major alternatives which could be used to solve the problem; and (3) it ensures that the regulatory agency systematically and comprehensively considers all available alternatives so that the public welfare can be enhanced in the most efficient and cost effective way. The RIR also serves as the basis for determining whether any proposed regulations are a "significant regulatory action" under certain criteria provided in Executive Order 12866 (E.O. 12866) and whether the approved regulations will have a "significant economic impact on a substantial number of small business entities" in compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA). 7.2 Problems and Objectives in the FisheryThe purpose and need, issues, problems, and objectives of the proposed Amendment are presented in Section 1.2 and are incorporated herein by reference. According to the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission, international trade of legally undersized Caribbean spiny lobster is a serious problem. The U.S. is the largest importer of Caribbean spiny lobster and existing laws are insufficient to prevent the importation of lobsters illegally caught and traded. U.S. law enforcement’s ability to screen imports for compliance with the Lacey Act is compromised by vague foreign minimum harvest-size and other laws that are intended to protect Caribbean spiny lobster. By implementing uniform importation standards, law enforcement’s ability to effectively prevent the importation of undersized and berried lobsters will be improved. This in turn may help protect the species both in the U.S. and in the Caribbean as a whole. 7.3 MethodologyThis RIR assesses management measures from the standpoint of determining the resulting changes in costs and benefits to society. These proposed actions would impose import restrictions to eliminate illegal trade of Caribbean spiny lobster, and as such, its largest cost would be the losses of revenues and profits incurred by individuals who illegally import Caribbean spiny lobsters by bringing into the U.S. lobsters that violate the harvest and trade laws of the countries of origin. Similarly, the largest secondary cost would be the losses of revenues and profits by individuals who buy illegal lobsters from black-market importers and losses of incomes by employees of such importers. These proposed actions may also reduce some legal imports of Caribbean spiny lobster. Hence, these actions may reduce the revenues and profits earned by some who legally import Caribbean spiny lobster and reduce the incomes of those employed by those legal importers. However, the bulk of the costs should be the losses of illegal revenues, profits and incomes that derive from black-market transactions. To the extent practicable, the net effects of the proposed measures should be stated in terms of producer and consumer surplus, changes in profits, and employment in the direct and support industries. However, most of the costs are expected to be incurred by black-market importers and there is insufficient information to quantify possible changes to legal imports and associated economic variables. Therefore, the impacts of the proposed action are described in terms of qualitative changes in costs and benefits that derive from possible decreases in legal, not illegal, imports. 7.4 Description of the FisheriesThe Caribbean spiny lobster fishery is described in Section 5.3, and is incorporated herein by reference. 7.5 Impacts of the Management Alternatives7.5.1 Action 1: Minimum Conservation Sizes of Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) Import Products into the United StatesThree alternatives are considered for this action: a status-quo alternative and two alternatives that impose import-size standards. 7.5.1.1 Alternative 1This is the status quo alternative, and, as such, would not impose minimum import-size standards for Caribbean spiny lobster. Current laws are insufficient to prevent the illegal importation of Caribbean spiny lobsters that are less than the countries of origin’s legal size standards because U.S. law enforcement’s ability to screen imports for compliance with the Lacey Act is compromised by vague foreign minimum harvest-size laws. Without improved methods of detection, illegal importation of undersized lobsters will continue and remain a serious threat to the long-run biological and economic success of this species. The U.S. is the largest importer of Caribbean spiny lobster and illegal international trade of Caribbean spiny lobster has been and remains to be a serious problem. From 2002 through 2007, total U.S. imports of frozen rock lobster and other sea crawfish (HS 0306110000: Palinurus spp., Panulirus spp. and Jasus spp.) averaged 12,374.2 metric tons with a value of about $355.5 million, annually. The top 5 countries of origin of those imports by volume (metric tons) are Brazil, The Bahamas, Australia, Honduras and Nicaragua, who collectively represent about 68 percent of the total volume of those imports. Those same countries account for about 78 percent of the total dollar value of those imports. Of the top 10 countries of origin by volume of frozen rock lobster and other sea crawfish imports, 6 of those countries (Brazil, The Bahamas, Honduras, Nicaragua, Columbia and Belize) export Caribbean spiny lobster to the United States. See Table 7.5.1.1. The Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) has reported that harvesting and trading of Caribbean spiny lobster below the minimum legal size is a serious problem, especially in Brazil. According to a 2002 report for the Second Workshop on the Management of Caribbean Spiny Lobster Fisheries in the WECAFC Area, during the 2001 lobster season in Brazil, 8.2 tons of lobsters from a 10-ton sample were under the minimum legal size. If that sample is indicative of lobsters imported into the U.S. from Brazil, then 82 percent ($62.1 million) of the $75.7 million of rock lobster imported annually from Brazil is illegal. See Table 7.5.1.1. The top 5 countries of origin of non-frozen rock lobster and other sea crawfish (HS 0306210000) by volume are Mexico, Australia, China, Taiwan and United Kingdom. See Table 7.5.1.2 next page. Mexico is the only one among the top 10 countries of origin that harvests Caribbean spiny lobster. Among all countries of origin of non-frozen rock lobster the following harvest Caribbean spiny lobster: Mexico, Nicaragua, Turks and Caicos Islands, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Jamaica. Table 7.5.1.1. Countries of Origin of U.S. Imports of Frozen Rock Lobster and Other Sea Crawfish (HS 030611000).1 Source: USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service.
1. Includes all Palinurus spp., Panulirus spp. and Jasus spp. 2. Includes component countries identified by U.S. Customs. Table 7.5.1.2. Countries of Origin of U.S. Imports of Not Frozen Rock Lobster and Other Sea Crawfish (HS 030621000), 2002 - 2007.1 Source: USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service.
1. Includes all Palinurus spp., Panulirus spp. and Jasus spp. 2. Countries that include component countries. The lucrative legal and illegal markets for this species make overfishing a reality in Brazil, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Jamaica, and Nicaragua. See Table 7.5.1.3. Overexploiting Caribbean spiny lobster stocks in foreign fisheries could jeopardize the abundance and structure of U.S. stocks because the larval recruitment of U.S. stocks is dependent on the reproductive potential of stocks managed by other countries. The potential long-term adverse impact of the status-quo alternative is smaller domestic stocks of Caribbean spiny lobster and smaller commercial and recreational harvests because larval recruitment of U.S. stocks are dependent upon the reproductive potential of stocks managed by other countries. Florida commercial and recreational lobster fishers, as well as lobster dealers and others who derive economic benefits from Caribbean spiny lobster fishing in Florida, would experience the greatest long-term cost. Table 7.5.1.3. Estimated status of national populations of Caribbean spiny lobster of WECAFC countries. Source: WECAFC 2007.
In 2006, Florida landings of Caribbean spiny lobster valued about $27 million, and from 1997 through 2006 averaged about $23.5 million annually. See Table 7.5.1.4. Florida commercial fishermen catch Caribbean spiny lobster to be landed and used as bait. Fishermen use the live undersized lobsters, known as “shorts”, to attract Caribbean spiny lobster into traps. See Table 7.5.1.5. Table 7.5.1.4. Florida Landings of Caribbean Spiny Lobster, 1997 – 2006.
Table 7.5.1.5. Pounds of Caribbean Spiny Lobster Landed in Florida, from 1978-79 through 2003-04 Fishing Seasons. Source: FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In 2003, recreational landings of Caribbean spiny lobster were about 1.1 million pounds, and sales of recreational lobster fishing permits exceed 100,000 annually. Sharp et al. (2005) estimate approximately $24 million was spent on recreational lobster fishing in the Florida Keys from the opening of the recreational season through the first Monday in September in 2001. Fishers who resided outside the Keys accounted for about $22 million (92 percent) of the total monies spent on recreational lobster fishing in the Keys. In addition to the regular recreational season there is the Special Two-Day Sport Season, which occurs on the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July. Those two days are the busiest boating days of the year in the County. From the 1993 through 2001 Special Two-Day Sport Seasons, the average annual number of spiny lobsters caught in Monroe County represents about 66 percent of the annual statewide total. Directory: Beta -> GMFMCWeb -> downloads -> BB%202008-06 downloads -> Ulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources downloads -> Ulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources downloads -> Goliath Grouper Data Workshop Report downloads -> Tab B, No. 7 Outline for Development of a State-Federal Cooperative Research Program for Goliath Grouper in Florida Report to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management downloads -> Tab c, no. 4 Rick sounds good to me. I would suggest using the most recent tor wording provided by sedar and making any necessary modifications to that wording. Then we will address at our March 2008 meeting. Gregg From downloads -> Ulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources downloads -> Gulf of mexico fishery management council activity report for mississippi department of marine resources BB%202008-06 -> Fishery management plan for the spiny lobster fishery of puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands Download 2 Mb. Share with your friends:
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