MFR PAPER 1082

Exploratory Fishing Activities of the EDITOR'S NOTE UNDP/FAO Caribbean Fishery Development This number of Marine Fisher­ Project, 1965-1971: A Summary ies Review documents the re­ sults of a five-year international study of the fisheries potential of the Caribbean Sea. RO BERT S. WOLF and WARREN F. RATHJEN The area surveyed under this study was immense, covering al­ most one million square miles. ABSTRACT-The UNDP (United Nations Development Program)/FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Caribbean Fishery Development The countries involved in the Project became operational in 1965. The Exploratory Fishing Section study were Barbados; Guyana; formed the largest component of the project; it was primarily staffed by Dominican Republic; France in FAO personnel, but was planned and directed by the U.S. National Marine respect to French Guiana, Gua­ Fisheries Service. Activities from 1965 to 1971 are summarized in this deloupe, Martinique; Jamaica; publication. Antigua; Montserrat; Sf. Christo­ Beginning in 1966, nearly 2,500 sea days were spent by three vessels in pher, Nevis, Anguilla; Nether­ resource experimentation and exploration. Operations extended from the lands Antilles; Surinam; Trinidad Central American coastal shelf to the islands and banks off the Greater and Tobago; United States of and Lesser Antilles and to the coastal shelves of eastern Venezuela, America on behalf of Puerto Guyana, Surinam, and French Guiana. Rico; Grenada; St. Lucia and Experiments were conducted in attracting and catching pelagic fish by Sf. Vincent. the use of longlines, live bait/pole-and-line, trolling, gill nets, lift nets, and handlines, and in catching demersal fish through the use of handlines, Romantic names, these. Yet power reels, traps, longlines, trawls, and gill nets. the West Indies are a good deal Exploratory efforts produced about 1 million pounds (453,597 kg) of more than coconuts and steel usable food fish . Of this total, about 35 percent consisted of trawl-caught bands and rum . Excluding the demersal fish, 38 percent of snapper, jacks, and fish of related species, mainland countries of Guyana, 17 percent of sharks, and the remaining 10 percent mostly of pelagic fish . French Guiana, and Surinam, the Three major resources were delineated. The demersal trawl fishes are island countries in this study, al­ limited to the continental shelf off northeastern South America. The demer­ though occupying wide arcs of sal snapper and related species exist throughout the project region, but the subtropical sea, have a total are most concentrated on the edge of the Honduran/Nicaraguan conti­ land area about the size of that nental shelf off Central America, on the banks of the northern Leeward of our small State of Maine. On Islands, and on the edge of the Guyanan/French Guianan continental shelf. A lesser resource, of sharks, occurs on the continental shelf of these islands live more than 11 northeastern South America, and is concentrated off Surinam. A seasonal million people. increase in availability of skipjack tuna to live bait/pole-and-line fishing Only one aspect of this study was apparent during March through May in the Windward Islands. Pelagic has heretofore resulted in formal species showed a seasonal increase in availability 10 trolling during the publication; yet the remainder same period in the northern Leeward Islands and during September and of the material gathered pro­ October off Jamaica. Spiny lobsters were taken in good quantity in April vides a solid datum for future on Pedro Bank south of Jamaica, but were not available on the other studies and development of fish­ grounds in the project region. A small resource of tilefish was found in eries in the Caribbean Sea. deep water off the edge of the Surinam continental shelf. This number of Marine Fisher­ ies Review places in the perma­ nent record a series of investi­ Accomplishments in the Explora­ the builder, did actual operations be­ gations that directly or indirectly tory Section of the UNDP/PAO gin. In June 1967, the MV Fregala affect the welfare of several Caribbean Fishery Development Proj­ was delivered and the three-vessel million human beings and thus ect during the first year (1965) were fleet was complete. Phase I of the proj­ appear eminently worthy of pres­ limited to acquiring staff, ordering and ect was completed o~ 31 August 1969, ervation. receiving necessary equipment, and and Phase II on 3 I August 197 1. operational planning. Not until No­ The overall project can be described T.A.M. venber of 1966, after delivery of the as a commercial feasibility or pre­ MV Calamar and MV A/cyan from investment survey of the fishery re-

1 Ki ngston

Old Harbor

Cope COIllt1roll

URAS

NETHERLANDS A R U~A ANTILLES BO AIR C~ _ <1 C<1 0

V E ~J -

COLOMBIA

Figure 1.-C.rlbbe. n Flah.ry Developm.nt Project R.glon. 2 t:>' ST. CROIX ~BARBUDA

Mayagu ez ISLANDS C> ANTIGUA

lies des Sainte's '; M arie G alante

\) DOMINICA

~MARTINIQUE <5- "'S-T-. -W-C--II-A '<'"'7-1--: <)S' ST. VINCENTO . Bcqllia ~ Islas Los I BARBADOS Canollan ' Grenadine Roqll es Union Is/and:' Islands ClIrr - IOCOl ! Blanqllilla Los Tcstigos Islan ds .~: ~TOBAGO

TRINIDAD

E ZUELA

3 Table 1.-Summary of project exploratory opera lions by fishing method or other claulflcallon. Catch (CA) In thousands of pounds and eff ~~

VESS EL & DEMERSAL DEMERSAL SHARK PELAGIC FISHING DE MERSAL HANDLINE POT OR HANDLINE & PELAG IC PELAGI C POLE & OTHER GEAR l T RAW LI NG & REE L TRAP SETLINE TR O LLING LONGLINE LINE METHODSZ A/cyon CA EFF CA EFF CA EF F CA / EF F CA EFF CA EFF CA EFF CA EFf 1966-67 a a 8.4 17 0.4" a a a a a 199 84 0.8 55 a a 1967-68 a a 91.6 113 2.0" a a a a 12 a a 1.4 79 a a 1968-69 a a 79.2 145 a a a a a a a a 0.5 40 a 0 1969-70 a a 23 .7 14 28.7 153 a a 5.9 24 a a a a a (l 1970-7 1 a 4 37 .4 16 9.2 50 a a 1.3 26 a a a a a II A/cyon Subtotals a 4 240 .3 305 40 .3 203 a a 7.2 62 19.9 84 2.7 17 4 a

Ca/amar 1966-67 84 .3 37 a a a a a a a a 15.2 59 2 .8 41 a 1967-68 155.9 198 a a a a a a a a a a a a 1968-69 86.8 42 a a a a 62.9 75 97 20 a a a 47 0.3 ; 1969-70 14 .1" a a a a a 102.9 130 a a a a 6.6 48 6.8 3) 1970-7 1 a a 182 57 28.8 92 a a 5.6 18 a a a a a 13 Ca/amar Subtotals 341.1 277 18.2 57 28.8 92 165 .8 205 153 38 15 .2 59 9 4 136 7 1 54

Fregata 1966-67 a a a a a a a a a a a a 16 30 a 1967-68 a a a a a 18 a a a 6 a a 5.9 96 2.4 1968-69 a a 28.5 179 a a a a a a a a a a 19 1969-70 a a 12 .8 53 a a a a 0 .2 11 a a 11.5 86 a 1970-71 a a a a a a a a 5.8 96 a a a a a Fregata Subtotals a a 41 .3 232 a 18 a a 60 113 a a 19.0 212 4.3

GRAND TOTALS 341.1 281 2998 594 691 313 165 8 205 28.5 213 351 143 31 1 522 11 4 PERCENT OF TOTAL 28.5 11.3 25.0 23.8 5.8 12 .6 13.8 8.2 24 8.5 2.9 5.7 2.6 20 .9 1.0 5 .~

I 1 Septem ber through August 31 2 Bottom and surface longline. bottom and surface gill net handline drift attraction etc 3 live bait fishi ng was Incidental to pelagiC pole and line fishing

sources of the region. It was divided pr ovided on the ves els for fi hermen pl o rat ions were made in the waters into three sections with over lappin g trainees. near Hi pani ola. Puerto Ri co. and the operational scopes: Resource expl oration was conduct­ Les er Antille . The continental shelf I. Exploratory fishing. ed in the waters of the Cari bbean off northeastern South Ame ri ca be­ 2. Marketing study and demon­ Sea, from th e edge of the Central tween Margarita Isla nd, Venezuela, stration. American continental shelf east to the and th e border betwee n French Guia­ 3. Fishery officers' and fisher- arc of the Les er A nti ll es (Fi g. I). na and Brazil was expl ored . men's training. Territoria l and adjacent water of the U nder contract to FAO, the U.S. The Exploratory Fishing Section in­ Central A me ri can countries, Colom­ ati onal Marine Fi sheries Service cluded definition of resources, experi­ bia, and Venezuela were not under (formerl y Bureau of Commercial Fish­ mentation with fishing gear and direct crutiny of the Cari bbean Fish­ erie ) was respo nsi ble for planni ng, methods, simulated commercial fish­ ery Development Project as they were organizin g, and upervising the explor­ ing, and demonstration fishing for within the study area of associ ated atory fi shing activities. The Chief of fishermen from participating coun­ projects. In the Atlantic Ocean adj a­ Exploratory Fishing and several spe­ tries. On-the-job traini ng was also cent to the Caribbean Sea, some ex- ciali st fi hery consultants were em­ pl oyee of the National Marine Fisheries Service. EXPLORATORY

Figure 2.- The MV Ca/amar, FISHING OPERATIONS one of two 82 -ft FAO multi­ purpose fishing veaaels as­ The MV Calamar (Fig. 2) and the signed to the UNDP/FAO Ca­ ribbean Fishery Development MV Alcyon are sister ships built for Project, 1966-71. FAO in Japan . They were registered

Robert S . Wolf is the Staff Assistant for Fisheries, Office of Fleet Operations, National Ocean Survey, NOAA , Rock­ ville, MD 20852. Warren F. Rathjen is with the Northeast Regional Office, NMFS, NOAA , 14 Elm Street, Glou­ cester, MA 01930.

4 In d.y. 0' dlr.ct.d 'Ithlng .r. pr ...nt.d 'or 'K~ proj. CI ..... 1 end 'i . ~lnll g'"

A

1()5, 8.1 191 13 5 05 1M • • 832 217 18 4 333 8

137 72 02 0 244 134 1 137 1 8 0 07 0 475 2().1 1 , 189 58 02 0 628 2285 189 208 S 5 03 0 19 • 1556 208 18 0 0 0 0 52

918 185 1 • 0 154 1 7749 18

30 18 0 0 34 30 .10.11\ l U 160 109 0 26 193 188 216 0 0 0 30' 216 150 55 0 0 300 1!>O 96 0 0 0 58 RESUL TS OF 652 182 0 28 889 680 EXPLORATORY OPERATIONS

2402 584 32 92 IS. 1 1.197 7 249' f h~ 1 \: d II I uh 10 !20 3 4 9 03 37 128 100 0 100

I InduSlr1al "sh were ceughl ,ncldenlally dUring demersal Irawl ',shlng , Celches ere Incidental 10 olher directed fishing elton

In anu oreralcd Out of Barhado,> and l'n ..:aLh LrUI,e, a Cleml,t '\:rlll l K ing\ton . JamaIca. re'>recll\cl) lhew kad..:r" \\ a, rL rl'n'lhk f,'r l' rl"r,ttPl\

arc comhlnatlon \e"ch. adartahlc to oreratll'l1\ and r,,:cl'rd I..eerln 1 ,'n1l.: ­ longllnlng, trawling, Il\e hall/pllle­ {InK, additional techniC I rer "nnel and-hne t1\hlng, trap fhhlng. rcel li,h­ \\..:re ahllan..l. rnl\ Id..:u Ifllm rr I ct Ing. and trolling. ')ulticlcnt ,race \\ a, ,tafL counterrart tafl (Ir,'m p rtl I­ rr l\ Ided for fi\hermen t ral nee,> ">recl­ rating counlrIL,\I. or l'ther \Illel" tl:d ficat lon\ arc gl\en hclo\\ agcncll: ( nl\ l!r,\1 \ l'l th" \\ l: I In­ Lenglh (ov rail) 82" (248m) dIC" BellaH \Iannc l.Jhl'r.Jt<'n . 8e m 22 It (665 m) Orall 115 It (35m) '\;atlon.J1 \Ianne I I\h":flL l:r\ ILl'. Power 380 hp CtC) Sp d 10 knots Indl\ IJual crUl\l:\ rangl:d from .1 1 he 1\ I reliell<1 (F-ig ~) \\J, huilt Ic\\ da\ III 2 month. hut \\~rl' nl'r­ for I -\ I n I- ngland -\ I t hl)ugh re'l\­ malh rlannL'l.l at I da~ Il r Ih..: largl'r tered In the etherland, -\nttllc" ,he operated rnmanl )Ul l I Barhadl) , e .11,1 1\ a cl)mhmatllln \l: ,d. adal (.thle I) lra\\ling, gill netllng. red tj , hlng. and trollm'. and .11,) ha race

fl)r traInee, H l'r 'peclllc.llll)n arc Fi g ure 3-n.. MV Fr . g. t • . • sa-It FAO multl-purpoo. L nOI a" ng ...-• ••• 1 .11 gned to th e 8 am UN OP A O C. rl bb • .., Fl l h . ry Ora Oev.lopm. nt Pto)..,t . 1 1·71 . p .... r

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1 he 1l1J.'tcr, 1'1 lh" \ l: ,el \\ l'rl' IOternatll'n.llh re'rulled r ncl Othe r than c.lrt 111 , the ~r" \ "n' I' ted I \\ e t Indian rl' nJllo.:d Ir"111 CI unln" rartl ·lr.l\n. 111 th" rrl ,,·t 1 ral 111't: pc nl r"nl lIr tl n nWl1th .10 ':ud and p rf, rm"d 111 "11"r.1 .' I h"rr ,,11 fe\ In III n. pecle taken b) tra"'!. handline or evaluation of the pole-and-line fi hing catches ranged from 18 to 30 pounds reel . and pot . Effort for the e pecies method in the regio n (Wagner 1974). (8-11 kg) per fi hing hour for an "'a almo t one-half of the total. 0 er Bait fishes were attracted to the average of five lines. Deep trolling as one-fifth of the total effort ",as devoted vessel with lights and caught primarily practiced in the almon fishery off the to live balt/pole-and-line fi hing. but by u e of the lift or "blanket" net. Pacific Coast of North America was )Ielded onl) about 3 percent of the Catche of live bait averaged 96 also undertaken. but few fish were total catch . buckets (600 pounds ; 275 kg) per taken. baiting station (usually one night). Best Other Fishing Methods locations for baiting were Jamaica. Pelagic Fish Resource Puerto Rico, and Trinidad. The re­ Other methods were experimentally source has the potential for intensified applied to the pelagic re ource. Their The initial Caribbean Fi hery Mi - harve ting for both human consump­ success was varied. but generally low ion report (Kasahara and Idy ll 1962) tion and bait. in terms of production. noted that the project area included P ole-and-line fishing produced catch­ Gill netting was attempted under a an o ver'" helmIngl} large proportion es rangi ng from nil to over 5,000 pounds variety of circumstances (Wolf 1974) of deep off hore water. Even though (approximately 2,250 kg) per boat day. with small- and large-mesh nets. these waters were generally low in but averaging only about 100 pounds Catches were generally poor, except productivity, ome empha is was pro­ (45 kg) per day. During concentrated for eight night sets off Tri nidad when grammed for a e ment of pelagic efforts to test the effecti veness of 38 shackles of 5-inch mesh nylon net tock . the method in the Windward Isl ands caught over 2 ,000 pounds (900 kg) of Longline Method area during 1970, the catch per day Spani h mackerel (Scoll1ber 0 ll1 0 rllS averaged o nl y 228 pounds (100 kg) lIlacula/us). jacks. a nd sharks. Flying The re ults of fishing by the MV for a lO-hour fishi ng day . fish were extremely vulnerable to gill A Ino/1 a nd th e M V Calwllar through Even though stocks of tuna and nets ; however, this gear is already th e lo ngli ne method did not offer other surface school fishes exist in the commonly used at Barbados. encou ragement for substantial land­ Caribbean, the pole-and-line fishing Some experimental fishi ng effort in g of tuna (Kawaguchi 1974b) or method did not show itself to be suffi­ was expended in attracting and con­ related specie (Kawaguchi 1974a). ciently productive to support a large­ centrating pelagic species around float­ ight y-one tuna longline ets resulted scale commercial industry. The avail­ ing objects (Wolf 1974). Method of in catches ranging from zero to three abi lity and species composition of fishing included handlining. trolling, ti~h per set of hundred hooks . The rela­ bait fis h , their biting and schooling gill netting, and longlining. Catch ti \ el) low rate of capture. inexperience behavior, the seasonal abundance of rates were not high, but the use of (I th e crew . and the turnover of avail­ target species, and the water and artificial structures to concentrate pe­ able trainee did not permit operati o ns weather condi ti ons a ll combi ned to lagic fish such as flyingfish (Exocoeti­ much in exces of 100 baskets (of six keep catch rates below those required dae), jacks (Carangidae), wahoo hook each) of gear et per day. This fo r uch a venture. The method is (AcanlhocybiulIl solanderi), dolphin tigure contrasts with 250-400 ba kets capable of providing reasonable (Coryphaena hippurtls), tunas (Scom­ of gear et each 24 hours in a normal catches for a very few boats duri ng bridae), and sharks was successful. commercIal longllne operation. easonal periods of high abundance. o n ~ldenng the recent standstill Bait fi h appear to hold minor In commercial tu na longline fi hing in prospects for greater exploi tation in Demersal Fish Resource the wo rld and the results of their the region . The calculated weight of a ll Trawling Method exploration . project personnel con­ bait caught exceeded the catch of fish cluded th at the de\elo pment of a long­ caught by pole and line by two or Extensive trawling operations line li~h er) b) partiCipating countrie three times--although less effort was (Rathjen , Yesaki, and Hsu 1969), in­ \\ ould no t be profitable The avallabil­ expended . cluding exploration , demonstration It\ )1 the r e ~ource \ane WIth location fishing, and simulated commercial pro­ and ,ea~ () n throughout the lear. The duction fishing, were conducted during .t nnual \ anation I~ uncertain, and 19 cruises by the MV Calalllar on the Trolling , nllclpated \Ields are not con Ide red continental shelf off the Guianas, ddequ Ie Il)r mall local operatIons. Another fishing method utilized for arou nd Trinidad, and off eastern atchIn g pelagic pecies wa trolling Live Bait/Pole-and-Line Method Venezuela. An extensive trawl re­ (Wagner and Wolf 1974). This method source consi ting mostly of ciaenid 1n p.trt bec.tu~e 01 the lac\.. of uc­ "'a ued In nearl y 7 percent (13 fishes ( ea trout, Cynoscioll I'irescells; u: ~ tn Il)ngllnlng. con\lderable empha­ rUI e all e sel ) of all project ve - croaker, Micropogoll jllrllieri; and " \\,~ plal'ed 1)f1 the It\e ball/pole­ \el lime and nearly all sea time of the whiting, Macrodoll Qncylodon) has ,lIlli ·ltnc melh,)d In II hlng lor pel glc 1 FreRQIlJ during the final year. been hown to exi t between 5 and 20 PCl'lC • prtnelpalh ~kqllal'\.. luna ( K a/­ at h rate were low except on the fathoms on the continental helf off I /lHJI/lIl (' IC/lllld [hI pha~e In\ohed bank north f HI panlOla and in the the Guianas. 'c \1110:111 )1 the hall l1,h re ouree as northern Leeward I land . Here during The overall catch rate was 676 ,dl lhe \utlablc tun ro:~ourcc and lhe earl) monlh of the ear average pound (306 kg) per trawling h ur.

6 Of this catch, 68 percent was market­ and Chislett 1974) during 17 cruises are comparati vely untouched . liver able fish, 28 percent was incidental or by the three vessels. and avidad Banks both offer good industrial fish, and 4 percent inverte­ The indigenou West Indian "Z" trap fi hing potenti al. In the northern brates. Production was highest off pot was compared primarily with the Leeward Island . banh.s near Saba and Surinam, averaging 735 pounds (334 Australian "0" pot and to a lesser ex­ Barbuda have excellent potential. and kg) per hour. Of this catch, 44 percent tent with the "0" pot and a space­ Anguilla Bank has good potential. was sea trout, 10 percent croaker, and saving nesting pot fabricated to project Gibb Seamount has limited potential. 15 percent fish of other species. The design. Various sizes of pots, sizes of due to sma ll size. In th e Windward best catch rate here was achieved dur­ mesh, bait, soaking periods, and fish­ Islands, the Grenada helf has shown ing the period June through August, ing depths were compared. Overall some moderate trap fi hing potential. when nearly 1,000 pounds per hour catch rates for the "Z" pot averaged The water off eastern Venezuela. were caught. Catch rate is positively about 15 pounds (7 kg) per pot lift Guyana. and Surinam have good po­ correlated with fresh water outflow on the Jamaican Banks. north of tential , while French Guiana has ex­ from the Surinam River. Daytime catch Hispaniola, and off Venezuela. Guy­ cell ent potenti al. rates averaged 30 percent higher than ana, and Suri nam. Catch rates of A mentioned, ciguatera poisoning nighttime with peak catches occurring about 40 pounds (18 kg) per lift were is a deterrent to marketing demersal between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. The existing obtained in the northern Leeward species fro m th e northern Leeward resource approximates 350,000 metric Island and off French Guiana. Catch Islands; but the apparentl y ciguatera­ tons and a sustainable production of rates were lowest, about 5-10 pounds free silk snapper (LlIfjalllls \'i\'llllll~) approxi mately 200,000 metric tons (2-4 kg) per lift . in the Windward has contributed between 70 and 90 can be expected. Islands. The "Z" pots out-fished the percent of the pot catch from 60 to " 0" at a ratio of about 2: I and the oth­ 100 fathoms . Handline Method er pot by a much greater ratio. Larger Other Fishing Methods Nearly one-fourth of all project pots and small mesh sizes yield ed a exploratory fishing effort was devoted greater catch rate. Atlantic herring Bottom longline fi shi ng for snapper~ to line fishing (powered reels) for (eillpea harenglls harenglls), Spanish and fish of related species produced snappers (Lutjanidae), jacks (Carangi­ mackerel, and West Indian "robin" unsati sfactory result (Kawaguchi dae), and groupers (Serranidae), and (scad) baits all produced about the 1974a). Sets in deep water ( 100-200 fi h of other related species throughout same catch rate. The be t overall catch fathoms) off th e end of the Guianan the project region. Average catch rates were obtained from pots soaked continental helf produced catches of rates per line per 10-hour day by fish­ for one day or less. The average size of tilefish (Lopholarillls c//(/J//(/ eieollfi­ ing area were: 350 pounds (160 kg) off snappers was greater with a larger ceps) and grouper (Epillepheills p .) the Honduran-Nicaraguan coasts; 150 sized mesh. A declining catch rate up to 1.0 pound (0.4 kg) per hook off pounds (70 kg) in the northern Carib­ was observed during May. June. and Surinam, but averaging o nl y 0.5 pound bean ; 100 pounds (45 kg) around the July. (0.2 kg) per hook along the entire helf banks in the northern Leeward Islands; The greatest proportion of the catch edge. 15 pounds (7 kg) throughout the re­ from the Jamaica Banks consisted of Bottom gill net sets were generally mainder of the Lesser Antilles and grunt (Pomadasyidae), trigger fish nonproductive except for catche~ of southeastern Cari bbean; and I 15 (Balistidae), squirrel fish (Holocentri­ bait fish in Kingston, Jamaica harbor pounds (54 kg) on the edge of the dae), and porgies (Sparidae), taken as and a catch of 417 pounds of mixed continental shelf off the Guianas. a group. North of Hispaniola, snappers mackerels (Scolllhero lllortls spp.l. Con idered by the results obtained and groupers contributed about evenly jacks, and harks. duri ng 5 years of exploratory fishi ng, to the catches. Nearly 75 percent of Explorations of the spiny lobster the resource of demersal snappers and the catch in the northern Leeward resource (Chislett and Yesaki 197.+) related species in the Caribbean and Island, the Windward Islands, and on did not indicate commercial potential adjacent waters can support an in­ the South American shelf was on the northern Leeward Islands creased annual production of 75,000 snappers. Banks, on th e banks north of Hispan­ tons, if fully exploited. Present annual In all areas with offshore banks or iola, nor on small banks outh and production by local fishermen on local having continental shelves of any southeast of J amaica. Better results grounds is estimated at 20,000-25,000 magnitude, the catch rates were hi gh were obtai ned from the western end tons. Ciguatera fish poisoning will enough to evoke com merci al interest. of P edro Bank, located southwe t of remain a deterrent to expansion of the The smaller banks off Jamaica would Jamaica, where catches up to 0.-+5 fishery for snappers, groupers, and probably not support unlimited effort lobster per trap lift were observed. jacks in the northern Leeward Islands; because of size, but they have poten­ Incidental effort in the Windward an early solution to this problem does tial. On the other hand, Pedro Bank is Islands and Tri nidad were not gen­ not seem likely (Kawaguchi 1974a). large enough to provide a good ground erally productive. for Jamaican fishermen . The eastern end of the Bank receives some effort Pot Fishing Shark Resource presently, but it is by small canoes Comparative pot (trap) fishing was carrying only a few traps, while the Experimental and ex ploratory fish­ undertaken for snapper and jack (Wolf southern and western sides of the Bank ing for sharks was conducted on th e

7 continental shelf off the G uianas dur­ fis hes avail abl e to li ve bait fis hing cent waters. M ar. F ish. Rev . 36(9): 8-3 1. 1974b. Ex pl oratory tuna longline fis h­ ing eight cruises of the M V Calamar and to trolling, are of insuffi ci ent ing in the Caribbean and adjacent walers. (Kl eijn 1974). Fishing during daylight magnitude to offer large-scale com­ Mar. Fish. Rev. 36(9): 6 1-66. Kleijn, L. J. K. 1974 . Res ults of experimen­ was done by handlining, a small trawl mercial development. but when and tal and exploratory shark fis hing off north­ fo r catching bait , and at ni ght with one where they are abundant they could be eaS lern South America. Mar. Fish. Rev. 36(9): 67 -77. or two sets of steel-cabl e botto m important in in creasing the supply of Rathjen, W. F. 197 1. Exploratory fis hing animal protein fo r local res id ents. aCliv iti es U NDP/FAO Caribbean Fisher­ setline. ies Development Project FAO (Food Over 4,600 harks of 25 species, Based on project experi ence, there ap­ Agric . Organ. U.N .) Fish Rep. 7 1(2):237- 248. weighing over 165,000 pound (74 ,8 20 pears to be littl e hope of development Rathjen, W. F., M. Yesaki , and B. Hsu. kg) were caught. Nearl y half were of a tu na fi hery by the longline or 1969. Trawlfis htng potential off northeast­ ern South A meri ca. Proc. G ulf Caribb. caught during 245 hours of handlining live bait methods by participating Fish . Inst. 2 1:86- 110. with 1-8 line and about th e same cou ntries in the project. Wagner, D. P. 1974 . Result s of live bait and pole and line fis hing explorations fo r number were caught with 105 sets or pelagic fis hes in the Cari bbean. Mar. F ish. LITERATURE CITED Rev . 36(9):3 1-35. 1,212 hours of steel-cabl e setlines with Wagner, D. P., and R. S. Wolf. 1974 . Re­ 100-175 hooks . Sharks were most C hislell, G . R., and M. Yesaki. 1974. Spiny sults of troll fis hi ng explorations in the lobster fis hing explorati ons in the C aribbe­ C aribbean. Mar. Fish. Rev . 36(9): 35-43. abundant between 15 and 20 fa th oms an. Mar. Fish Rev. 36(9) :43-48 . Wolf, R . S. 1974. Minor miscell aneous ex­ during ovember and December and K asahara, H., and C. P. Idyll. 1962. United ploratory/experimental fis hing acti vities Nati ons Special Fund, C aribbean Fishery in the C aribbean and adjacent waters. off the mouths of the Iracoube and Mission, Report to the Managing Director. Mar. Fish. Rev. 36(9) :78-87 . Coppename Ri vers. The more com­ U nited Nati ons, New York , 1962:37 p. Wolf, R. S., and G . R. C hislelt. 1974 . Trap Kawaguchi , K . 1974a. H andline and long­ fis hing explorations fo r snapper and re­ mon species were bl acktip shark line fi shing ex plorations for snapper and lated species in the Caribbean and adja­ (Carcharhi nlls Ii mbaflls), small ta il related species in the Caribbean and adj a- cent waters. Mar. Fish. Rev . 36(9):49-61. shark (c. p o r oslI s) , bull shark (c. lell ­ MFR Paper 1082. From Marine Fisheries Revie w, Vol. 36, No. 9, cas), and tiger shark (Galeocerdo September 1974. Copies of this paper, in limited numbers, are Cll vi eri ). available from 083, Technical Information Division, Environmental The whole area off the coast of the Science In formation Center, NOAA , Washington, DC 20235. G uianas will yield an average of 3,000 pounds ( 1,360 kg) of dressed shark meat (about 60 percent of round weight) per 24 hours of fis hing, i. e., 1,000 pounds (458 kg) wi th two steel ­ MFR PAPER 1083 cable sets during the night and 2,000 pounds (907 kg) with handlining dur­ in g the day alternated with required Handline and Longline Fishing Explorations trawl hauls. for Snapper and Related Species in the Because the catch rate of shark is initially high, and the stock rather Caribbean and Adjacent Waters small, overfishing could easily res ult from any mtensive fishing efforts. KYOTARO KAWAGU CHI

CONCLUSIONS ABSTRACT - Explorations for snapper and related demersal species T he results of explorations by proj­ have been conducted in the Caribbean and adjacent waters by vessels of ect vessels, as well as others, coupled the Caribbean Fisheries Development Project. This report presents the wi th anal yses of ongoing fis heries indi­ results of th ose explorations which used the handline and bottom set cate that fis hery resources avai lable lo ngline methods on the under- or unexploited shelves and banks within to participating countries in the proj­ the project region. ect are not vast. but several offer po­ Three project vessels spent a total of 382 days conducting exploratory tential for expansIOn. Foremos t is the and simulated commercial type production fishing for snappers, groupers, trawl resource on the continental shelf and jacks. They produced about 291 ,000 pounds of fish which averaged off northea tern South Ameri ca. The about 760 pounds per fishing day or about 14.6 pounds/line/hour of econd most promising latent re ource fishing. The speCies composition of the overall catch was 51 percent awaiting greater use is that of snappers, snapper (Lutjanidae), 34 percent jacks (Carangidae), 6 percent groupers Jack . and grouper . T he keys to devel­ (Serranidae), and 9 percent other mixed species. The daily catch rates opment of the e re ources by project ranged from a to 137 pounds/line/hour. Fishing efficiency and catch cou ntne a re trai ning of fi hermen in rates are discussed . trawlin g, handl ining, and reel and pot Catch res ults as related to fishing ground, water depth, bottom type, fi hlng fo r nappers, and the operation fishing season, and species composition are examined. Results of experi­ f fi hmg ve el of the Ize and endur­ mental use of the bottom set longline method are given. ance nece ary for the e off hore From exploratory fishing results it is estimated that annual production operall on Re ource of shark and of snapper could be increased from two to four times by utilizing under­ bait fi he ,a well a vari ous pelagic or unfished grounds.

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