Abstract

Caribbean spiny lobster fisheries grew, peaked, and declined while affected by at least two hurricanes annually. These atmospheric disturbances can cause significant losses of life and property on land, but their effects on underwater ecosystems seem to be limited to sediment disturbances, runoffs, damage to coastal marine nurseries, and uncertain effects on larval connectivity. During the development of the fisheries the harvested fractions of the populations were small and the parental stocks produced enough recruits to compensate for the combined negative effects of fishery and hurricanes, but when fisheries declined after reaching overdevelopment, the diminished populations could not cope.This argument of declining landings resulting from a combined negative hurricane-fishery mechanism fails in the self-sustained and isolated Brazilian spiny lobster fishery which also grew, peaked, and declined in total absence of hurricanes. This exception of the second largest Caribbean spiny lobster fishery leaves mismanagement as the fundamental common cause for the present regional condition of all Caribbean spiny lobster fisheries.Excessive fishing effort, elimination of more than seven million juvenile lobsters annually, and ongoing violations of closed seasons and size limits are the fundamental causes of decline, but recuperation is possible by reducing fishing effort and developing adequate protection measures agreed to and enforced on a regional basis.