Abstract

The feasibility study for establishment of a Marine Fishery Reserve (MFR) in La Parguera represents a joint effort by local fishermen, scientists, and regulatory agencies towards conservation and improvement of coral reef fishery resources. The fundamental management strategy proposed is the closing out to fishing of one of the island reefs in La Parguera, in an effort to increase size and abundance, and thereby, the spawning stock biomass of commercially important fish populations. Proposed objectives of the initial year of feasibility study were the following : 1) to consolidate local fishermen support for the project, 2) to select a site for establishment of the MFR, 3) to develop a scientific baseline for evaluation of the effectiveness of the MFR as a fisheries management option, and 4) to convey the MFR as a focus of multidisciplinary scientific research in Puerto Rico. Fishermen support was achieved by personal interviews at fishermen homes, workshops at the main fishing landing ports, and their participation in the site selection process. Alternative sites proposed by fishermen were Turrumote, Media Luna, and San Cristobal Reefs. These reefs were studied in terms of the physical habitat and reef associated ichthyofauna, with particular focus upon commercially important fish populations. A pilot study examining distributions of coral reef fish larvae was also launched as part of the feasibility study. At the end of the first year, preliminary results of scientific studies at the three reefs were presented to the fishermen community during an open workshop activity. Fishermen voted for Turrumote Reef as the proposed site for establishment of the MFR. Turrumote was then designated an experimental site, and the other two reefs as controls for a comparative analysis of reef ichthyofaunal differences before and after fishing closure practices are in effect. This represents the main strategy for evaluation of the MFR as a reef associated fisheries management option in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

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