Abstract

The reef fishery on the north coast of Jamaica is one of the most intensely overfished in the Caribbean. Discovery Hay lies in the center of the north coast and the reeffishery there is typical of the rest of the fishery on this coast, with a narrow, accessible fishing ground which provides food and employment to large numbers of people, despite its overexploited state.\Management measures that could rebuild fish stocks were suggested a quarter of a century ago. However, the central government has not been able to introduce thenecessary measures. The University of the West Indies has implemented several management measures on a small scale around Discovery Bay but these have not been applied on a wider scale.\ This paper provides an updated status report of the reef fishery on a segment of the north coast with a fishing area of about 12 km2. We estimate current fishing effort to be over 7000 boat trips per year using traps, lines, or nets. In addition, over 5000 spear fishing trips are made per year. The average income is between US $13 and $29 per trip. The total catch in the study area is about 60 tons per year, worth about $300,000. Despite its overexploited state, the productivity of the reef remains high with an estimated yield of 5 tons km-2.\We estimate that the cost to Jamaica overthe past 25 years of not managing its fisheries on the north and south coast is around $1.3 billion. Managing small-scale multi-species fisheries is undoubtedly difficult, but the figures here suggest that it is surely worth the effort.

PDF Preview