Abstract

In 1993, the Caribbean Fishery Management Council and Government (CFMC) declared an area south of St. Croix seasonally closed from March 1 – June 30th to protect the spawning aggregation(s) of mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis) south of St. Croix. In 1994, the Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) followed with a similar declaration, resulting in a 2 nm sq. area seasonally closed to fishing. In 2005 (CFMC) and 2006 (USVI) a seasonal prohibition on the harvest of mutton snapper from April 1 – June 30th was implemented in federal and territorial waters. From March – July 2009 we used visual census, hook and line catches and fisher surveys to validate the seasonal occurrence of mutton snapper spawning aggregation(s) within the closed area. Of the 93 fish caught with a hook and line 61 were ripe males and 29 ripe females. Fishing was performed from three days before to five nights after the full moon. The peak spawning period occurred in May and June. The largest female was FL 63.3 cm, weighing 4.71 kg with a GSI of 2.9. The largest male was FL 66.0 cm, weighing 5.73 kg with a GSI of 2.1.

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