Overview of Fisheries Data Collection and Management in Grenada. United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme, Iceland
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unuftp.is Final Project 2018 OVERVIEW OF FISHERIES DATA COLLECTION AND MANAGEMENT IN GRENADA Olando K. Harvey Grenada Fisheries Division Melville Street, St. George’s, Grenada [email protected] Supervisors: Jón Sólmundsson, Jónas Páll Jónasson Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT There is a consistent upward trend in the total landing of fish in Grenada since the 1980s which may be as a result of improvement in fleet capacity (i.e. size and efficiency). The increase in fishing capacity is at its highest point in the history of Grenada; therefore, the risk to marine resources from the negative impacts of overharvesting is also at its highest. Consequently, it is critically important that the management of fisheries is based on empirical data on the status of the harvested resources to effectively manage against unsustainable harvest levels. This paper evaluates the current data collection and management system of the Grenada Fisheries Division in an effort to identify gaps that exist. It also provides practical recommendations which could be implemented in the short term (i.e. 1-3 years). Landing data are currently collected at every primary landing site, but with some inconsistencies in data entry. There has been a lack of biological and environmental data in the recent decade. With the implementation of the MPAs in Grenada, systematic visual reef surveys have been conducted. Given the unique differences of life history traits that can occur within and between a family or genus of fish, it is important not to implement a one size fits all approach to stock assessment; consequently, a suite of assessment methods appropriate for the available data must be employed. Given the data that is currently available and the suggested additions to the collection system, a combination of landing statistics, length-frequency and surplus production models would be the most appropriate assessment methods to determine the status of both demersal and pelagic stocks. In addition, visual surveys could be utilised to augment fisheries dependent assessment for shallow reef species especially for those un/underreported within the landing data. This paper should be cited as: Harvey, O. 2019. Overview of fisheries data collection and management in Grenada. United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme, Iceland. Final project. http://www.unuftp.is/static/fellows/document/Olando18prf.pdf. Harvey CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 CONTEXT ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 RATIONALE .................................................................................................................................................. 3 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 EVOLUTION OF THE GRENADIAN FISHERY ........................................................................................................... 3 2.2 DEMERSAL FISHERY ....................................................................................................................................... 4 2.2.1 Red Hind .......................................................................................................................................... 4 2.2.2 Stoplight Parrotfish ......................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 PELAGIC FISHERY ........................................................................................................................................... 6 2.3.1 Yellowfin Tuna................................................................................................................................. 6 2.3.2 Common Dolphinfish ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.4 POLICY FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................................................... 8 2.4.1 National Legislation ........................................................................................................................ 8 2.4.2 Regional and International Agreements ......................................................................................... 9 2.5 FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 10 2.6 FISHERY DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................................................... 11 2.7 MARINE PROTECTED AREAS .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.7.1 Reef Fish Assessment within MPAs ............................................................................................... 14 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 15 3.1 REVIEW OF CURRENT FISHERIES DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ............................................................................ 15 3.1.1 Evaluation of Hillsborough Landing Data ..................................................................................... 15 3.2 ONLINE SURVEY ON THE GRENADA FISHERIES ................................................................................................... 15 3.3 ANALYSIS OF REEF FISH ABUNDANCE .............................................................................................................. 16 4 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................ 16 4.1 REVIEW OF CURRENT FISHERIES DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ............................................................................ 16 4.1.1 Structure of Data Management System ....................................................................................... 16 4.2 HILLSBOROUGH LANDING DATA ..................................................................................................................... 17 4.2.1 Landings ........................................................................................................................................ 17 4.2.2 Fishing Activity .............................................................................................................................. 20 4.2.3 Duration of Fishing Trips ............................................................................................................... 22 4.2.4 Catch Per Unit Effort ..................................................................................................................... 24 4.3 ONLINE SURVEY ON THE GRENADA FISHERIES ................................................................................................... 27 4.3.1 Fisheries Management ................................................................................................................. 27 4.3.2 Changes within the Grenadian Fisheries ....................................................................................... 27 4.3.3 Pelagic Fisheries ............................................................................................................................ 27 4.3.4 Demersal Fisheries ........................................................................................................................ 28 4.3.5 Data Collection and Management ................................................................................................ 30 4.3.6 Stock Assessment .......................................................................................................................... 30 4.4 REEF FISH ASSESSMENT WITHIN MPAS ........................................................................................................... 30 5 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................................... 33 5.1 REVIEW OF CURRENT FISHERIES DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ............................................................................ 33 5.2 HILLSBOROUGH LANDING DATA ..................................................................................................................... 33 5.3 ONLINE SURVEY OF GRENADA FISHERIES .......................................................................................................... 35 5.4 REEF FISH ASSESSMENT WITHIN MPAS ........................................................................................................... 37 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................. 38 6.1 FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 38 6.2 FISHERIES DATA COLLECTION AND HANDLING ................................................................................................... 38 6.3 STOCK ASSESSMENT ....................................................................................................................................