Abstract

With increasing anthropogenic pressures, the sustainable management of any fishery now requires an in-depth understanding of a species’ biological attributes and the temporal and spatial scales by which they vary. Panulirus argus (P. argus) is the most commercially lucrative fishery of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), yet few studies have addressed local trends in growth and reproduction. To examine how biological attributes of the P. argus vary in relation to both environmental and fisheries-dependent factors, carapace length, reproductive attributes, and sex ratio of P. argus landed at South Caicos processing facilities from 2004 - 2017 were assessed. The data of this study suggest that individual lobster as small as 76 mm carapace length (CL) are reproductive-ly capable and that P. argus can be found reproducing year-round. Additional research from April through July (i.e. closed season) could provide assistance to determine if the current closed season is best for reproductive success. Current trends of the fishery are examined through the biological, temporal, and spatial factors that affect P. argus CL. Data suggest that variations in CL are related to both yearly and seasonal fluctuations; and can be associated with local geographic differences throughout the Caicos Bank. The Eastside of South Caicos and Fish Cay exhibited a higher proportion of tar chested female P. argus than the areas near Ambergris Cay, Bush, and Sea Cays. However, commercial landings and environmental conditions in neighboring locations may impact the sustainability of the overall TCIs’ P. argus fishery. Greater collaborations throughout the Caribbean would benefit the species and the TCIs monitoring initiatives could be designed to further investigate the fine-scale variation in P. argus reproductive biology observed in this study.

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