Abstract

Parque National del Este (PNE), southeastern Dominican Republic, is the second largest coastal national park in the country. The southeastern coast has a long history of fishery exploitation before declining by the 1970s. Current fishing practices in PNE are characterized by artisanal fishing for local sale and consumption. Since 1994, several U.S. and Dominican organizations conducted fishery-dependent and independent sampling of the park’s fishery resources. This paper provides a brief overview of the status of queen conch, spiny lobster, and reef fishes in the park and the proposed zoning and fishing regulations for the waters around the park Data collected over a period of four years demonstrate the severity of fisheries resource depletion in the park. Indications of intense fishing include: low density of adult queen conch, spiny lobster, grouper, and snapper; declines in juvenile queen conch aggregations; and small size and low species diversity of predatory reef fishes. The proposed fisheries zoning plan and regulations provide a framework for the restoration of depleted fisheries: these briefly include the prohibition of fishing in nursery areas, gear restrictions, and minimum size regulations. Proposed fisheries regulations are reviewed, as well as zoning options for queen conch, spiny lobster, and reef fishes.

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