ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF MARINE ORNAMENTAL FISHERIES IN PUERTO RICO Antares Ramos Álvarez, MSc (DPhil Candidate) Tropical Ecology Group, Department of Zoology University of Oxford Starting January: Coral Management Liaison & Coastal Specialist for Puerto Rico NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management

OVERVIEW Introduction to ornamental fisheries in Puerto Rico Introduction to overall project (DPhil) Preliminary findings Recommendations

Ornamental Fisheries in Puerto Rico Started in the early 1970s Fishing Law of 1998-Regulated for the first time through permits and spp. quotas Limit to 20 export fish species and 8 invertebrates in 2004 Fishing Regulation (from over 100 reported) due to fear of over- exploitation – Precautionary Principle List of permitted species taken from list of exports Currently: ~15 fishermen with permits Export mainly to USA (Wood 2001)

Overview of Ornamental Fisheries First 10 species account for 73% of exports, where 42% Gramma loreto (37,560 indiv., $72,120) (Ojeda et al.) Rapid biodiversity assessment showed that export ornamental fish are being captured below the established quota (LeGore Environmental Associates, Inc., 2006)

Sustainability of Ornamental fisheries in Puerto Rico (DPhil) Ecological assessment: population counts of spp (fish and inverts) that are not of commercial (edible) importance and habitat assessment Public policy (laws and management) Market forces User perspectives: ornamental and commercial (small-scale) fishermen

Focus of study Explore if list of permitted species has ecological validity Ground-truth list with goal of adding/removing species from list Market analysis of industry in PR Socio-economic background of trade Enforcement and management mechanisms Policy recommendations

Preliminary results Market-unclear if there would be demand if fishery were opened Sustainability-currently comparing population assessments with market demands Enforcement-lack of implementation Habitat-in peril Currently very few fishermen export

Preliminary recommendations Fishery should not be opened-management must continue and must improve Species list-may be room to expand Keep quotas-may be room to increase Enforcement-need for educational/training material (will hopefully come out of study’s grant); need for better enforcement mechanisms Market-there might be room for more fishermen, however, a limit in permits (especially exporting permits) should be established

Gracias Funding bodies and collaborators: Department of Zoology-University of Oxford NOAA-Coral Reef Conservation Program General Grant Caribbean Coral Reef Institute University of Puerto Rico-Marine Campus Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Sea Grant –Mayagüez