FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLAN, REGULATORY IMPACT REVIEW, AND FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR CORALS AND REEF ASSOCIATED PLANTS AND INVERTEBRATES OF PUERTO RICO AND THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS CARIBBEAN FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL 268 Muñoz Rivera Avenue, Suite 1108 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918-2577 July, 1994 IN MEMORIAM DR. CARLOS GOENAGA TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 DEFINITIONS 4 1.0 INTRODUCTION 7 2.0 DESCRIPTION OF RESOURCE 8 2.1 Corals 8 2.1.1 Class Hydrozoa 8 2.1.2 Class Anthozoa 9 2.1.2.1 Antipatharian anthozoans 9 2.1.2.2 Octocorallian anthozoans 9 2.1.2.3 Actinarian anthozoans 10 2.1.2.4 Scleractinian anthozoans 10 2.2 Live-Rock 13 2.2.1 Rubble-Rock 14 2.2.2 Algae-Rock 14 2.2.3 False-Coral 14 2.2.4 Sea-Mat 15 2.3 Invertebrates Associated with Reef and Coral Reefs 17 2.3.1 Porifera 17 2.3.2 Annelida 17 2.3.3 Mollusca 17 2.3.4 Arthropoda 19 2.3.5 Echinodermata 19 2.3.6 Bryozoa and Chordata 20 2.4 Marine Algae and Flowering Plants 21 2.5 Ecological Relationships 23 2.6 Fishery Management Unit 26 2.7 Distribution of Species in the Fishery Management Unit 26 2.8 Present Condition of Components of the FMU 30 2.8.1 Natural stressors 30 2.8.2 Anthropogenic stressors 31 2.8.2.1 Reefs 31 2.8.2.2 Seagrasses 36 2.9 Probable Condition of Habitat in the Future 37 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF FISHERY 38 3.1 History of Exploitation 38 3.2 Current Commercial Use 39 3.3 Current Recreational Use 41 3.4 Research and Medicine 43 3.5 Science and Education 44 3.6 User Conflicts 44 3.7 Landings and Value Information 44 3.8 Vessels, Gear, Employment and Marketing 45 3.9 International Activities 47 i 4.0 CAPACITY LIMITS 47 5.0 PROBLEMS IN THE FISHERY 48 5.1 Overfishing 48 5.1.1 Stony Corals, Octocorals, Live-Rock and Seagrasses 48 5.1.2 Other Reef-associated Invertebrates 49 5.2 Lack of Management 49 5.3 Lack of Effective Environmental Policies/ Enforcement 50 5.4 Inappropriate Harvest Techniques and Holding Facilities 51 5.5 Inadequate Information Base 51 5.6 Limited Public Information/Education 52 5.7 Habitat Loss and Degradation 52 5.8 User Conflicts 52 6.0 MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES 53 7.0 MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 54 7.1 Management Measures Proposed 54 7.1.1 Management Measure 1 54 7.1.2 Management Measure 2 55 7.1.3 Management Measure 3 57 7.1.4 Management Measure 4 58 7.1.5 Management Measure 5 59 7.1.6 Management Measure 6 61 7.1.7 Management Measure 7 61 7.1.8 Management Measure 8 (RESERVED) 62 7.2 Procedure for Adjusting Management Measures 62 7.3 Future Management Considerations 63 7.3.1 Marine Conservation Districts 64 7.3.2 Quotas, Limited Entry and Harvest Prohibitions 65 7.3.3 Handling and Transportation of Live Organisms 66 7.3.4 Introduction of Exotic Marine Organisms 67 7.4 Data Collection and Research Requirement 67 7.5 Special Recommendations and Endorsement of State Actions 68 7.5.1 Recommendations 68 7.5.2 Endorsement 69 7.6 Public Education and Awareness 70 7.7 International Considerations 70 8.0 RELATED MANAGEMENT JURISDICTIONS, LAWS AND POLICIES 71 8.1 Federal Laws, Policies and Regulations 71 8.2 Local Laws, Policies and Regulations 74 8.3 Management Institutions 77 8.3.1 Federal Management Institutions 77 8.3.2 State Management Institutions 80 8.4 International Treaties and Agreements 80 ii 9.0 OTHER APPLICABLE LAWS AND REQUIREMENTS 81 9.1 Effect on Wetlands 81 9.2 Vessel Safety 81 9.3 Paperwork Reduction Act 81 9.3.1 Proposed Data Collection Program 82 9.3.2 Estimate of Reporting Burden and Cost 82 9.3.3 Coastal Zone Management Consistency 82 9.3.4 Federalism 82 9.3.5 Social Impact Assessment 83 10.0 MAJOR ISSUES DISCUSSED AT PUBLIC HEARINGS 83 11.0 REFERENCES 84 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 Species in the Fishery Management Unit 93 Table 2 Reported numbers of individuals of invertebrates exported from Puerto Rico 99 Table 3 Reported numbers of boxes of marine fish and invertebrates exported from Puerto Rico 101 Figure 1 Distribution of substrate type by coast and by depth 102 Figure 2 Distribution of live and submerged reefs on the insular shelf, Isla Caja de Muertos area, southern Puerto Rico 103 Figure 3 Live invertebrates exported from Puerto Rico: 1990-1992 104 Figure 4 Proposed MCDs for Puerto Rico 105 Figure 5 Proposed MCD for St. Croix, U.S.V.I. 106 APPENDIX A: Species excluded from the FMU 107 APPENDIX 1: The state of Puerto Rico and U. S. Virgin Island corals APPENDIX 2: A preliminary assessment of marine aquarium organisms APPENDIX 3: Regulatory Impact Review APPENDIX 4: Final Environmental Impact Statement iii ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT AP Advisory Panel CFMC Caribbean Fishery Management Council CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CPUE Catch-per-unit-effort COE Corps of Engineers CZMA Coastal Zone Management Act CZMP Coastal Zone Management Program DAH Domestic Allowable (Annual) Harvest DNER Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (Puerto Rico) (Previously known as Department of Natural Resources - DNR) DPNR Department of Planning and Natural Resources (U.S.V.I.) EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EIS Environmental Impact Statement EO Executive Order EPA Environmental Protection Agency EQB Environmental Quality Board FMFC Florida Marine Fishery Commission FMP Fishery Management Plan FMU Fishery Management Unit FRL Fisheries Research Laboratory of the DNRE FWS Fish and Wildlife Service GIFA Governing International Fishery Agreement GMSAF Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fisheries IDEA International Diving Education Association MCD Marine Conservation District MMS Minerals Management Service MPRSA Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield NAUI National Association of Underwater Instructors NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System NPS National Park Service OCRM Office of Coastal Resource Management OY Optimum Yield PADI Professional Association of Diving Instructors PMP Preliminary Management Plan P.R. Puerto Rico iv RIR Regulatory Impact Review RTSC Recreational Training SCUBA Council SAFE Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation SAS Special Aquatic Sites SCUBA Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus SIA Social Impact Assessment SSC Scientific and Statistical Committee SSI Scuba Schools International STPs Secondary Treatment Plants TALFF Total Allowable Level of Foreign Fishing USCG United States Coast Guard USGS United States Geological Service U.S.V.I. United States Virgin Islands v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for corals and reef-associated plants and invertebrates includes over 100 species of coral (including stony corals, sea fans and gorgonians) and over 60 species of plants (including seagrasses) and invertebrates. The Plan covers two distinct components. The first is a fishery for live invertebrates which are marketed for the marine aquarium trade. Aside from reef-associated invertebrates, this fishery includes what is widely known as live-rock - rock substrate supporting diverse invertebrate life forms. Live-rock is highly valued by aquarists and there is a rapidly growing market for this resource. The second component of the Plan comprises corals and coral reefs. These resources are of enormous value for the reef communities that they support, for their physical capacity to protect coastlines and for their aesthetic value. Indeed traditional coastal fisheries in the Caribbean may best be characterized as coral reef fisheries intimately dependent on the backbone of habitats created by coral reefs and associated invertebrates. Corals and invertebrate communities not only comprise the physical basis of the reef ecosystem and the fish and invertebrate resources that depend on it, but also exhibit considerable beauty. This means that they are not only essential for the persistence of commercial and recreational fisheries, but are also of incalculable value for tourism and other recreational activities. It also means that, because of their slow regeneration rates and limited distribution on the insular platform of Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands, many species are extremely vulnerable to unregulated harvest by commercial and amateur collectors and damage from growing tourist activity. Furthermore, because of their largely sedentary nature, they are unable to escape the impact of a variety of anthropogenic activities, including anchoring and pollution. Because current scientific evidence indicates that corals and certain other reef-associated invertebrates are extremely slow-growing, at least as measured against human time horizons, it is widely believed that their removal through harvest is likely to result in the net loss of these resources. Hence, corals and resources like them are essentially non-renewable in the typical fishery sense. Since they provide the Nation with substantial economic benefits unrelated to direct harvest, there appears to be little doubt that their greatest value lies in non-consumptive uses. Moreover, it is not clear whether typical fishery management approaches directly apply to reef resources and such standard measures have yet to be evaluated. In the meantime, given the current rates of degradation of coral reefs, their limited distribution and the consequent potential for their overexploitation, and the growing demand for reef-associated invertebrates, a decidedly conservative management approach must be applied. Scarcity of biological and harvest data is no excuse for lack of management. The Plan was developed largely for two reasons. The first concerned the increasingly serious impacts of anthropogenic activities on the condition of coral reefs and the communities of organisms with which they are closely associated in both Puerto Rico and the U.