Abstract

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) is responsible to conserve and manage all the Island’s natural resources, including the fishery resources. The DNER’s Commercial Fisheries Statistics Program (CFSP) collects and analyzes the dependent fisheries data. The CFSP has been collecting data since 1971. During the 1980s, it was observed that Puerto Rico’s commercial fishery resources had shown symptoms of overfishing (e.g. decrease in landings pounds, changes in catch composition, decrease in the size of some important species).\Snappers (Lutjanidae) are the most important fish family in Puerto Rico’s fishery market, in pounds landed and prices. Many snappers are red in color, which is preferred by local customers. Mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis) has a red color and is often sold as deepwater snapper (silk snapper Lutjanus vivanus). The mutton snapper is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to Brazil, but is most common in the tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea. Mutton snapper spawning aggregations exhibit site fidelity and are related to the full moon phase of the month of February. In Puerto Rico, commercial fishers reported that mutton snapper aggregation occurs in many places around the island near the full moon of April, May and June. That characteristic in the life history of the mutton snapper makes this species particularly vulnerable to human exploitation, resulting in the decline of this population. The primary methods for catching mutton snapper in Puerto Rico are bottom lines, fish traps, SCUBA divers, and beach seines.\The objective of this study is to describe the fishery of mutton snapper thru the data collected by the CFSP (landings and biostatistics data) during 1988 - 2001. Length frequency distributions (LFD) of this species by years, fish traps, beach seine, bottom line and SCUBA divers will be analyzed.

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