Jamaican lobster

Species: Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus)

Gear Type:  traps

Fishery Location: White House,  Westmoreland, Jamaica.

FAO fishing zone: Western Central Atlantic Fishing Area 31 by FAO.

FIP Coordination: If you would like more information about the FIP or if you wish to support it, please contact Ernesto Godelman (CeDePesca).

FIP Participants:

• Iberostar
• CeDePesca (technical support)

Through a memorandum of understanding signed in August, the international hotel chain Iberostar Resorts & Hotels agreed with CeDePesca to carry out a project to improve the fishing practices of artisanal fishermen in the town of White House, Westmoreland Parish, who supplies Iberostar restaurants in Jamaica. This project, currently in the stage of analyzing the fishery strengths and weaknesses, will be in full alignment with the sustainable tourism initiative Wave of Change pioneered by Iberostar.

There are three types of lobsters found in Jamaica’s coastal waters and on the offshore banks of: Pedro Bank, Morant Bank and Formigas Bank including spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus), spotted spiny lobster (Panulirus guttatus) and slipper lobster (family Scyllaridae). Of the three types, spiny lobster or Caribbean spiny lobster is the most harvested.

The Caribbean spiny lobster Panulirus argus (Latreille, 1804) is a decapod crustacean in the family Palinuridae. It is a long-lived sub-tropical and tropical species with a range that extends from North Carolina (USA) and Bermuda to northeastern Brazil (Holthius 1991). P. argus has a complex life cycle which includes coral reefs (adults), shallow vegetated habitats (juveniles) and the pelagic zone of the open ocean (phyllosoma larvae and post-larvae). (Atherley, et al. 2021) A new stock structure, with three stocks in the Caribbean, was recently proposed (Figure 1), where the Jamaican stock would be associated with the Central Caribbean stock (CLME, 2019).

Figure 1. Spiny lobster distribution, major fishing areas and schematic representation of the limits of the spiny lobster stocks: northern, central, and southwest Caribbean stocks, and southern stock (Brazil). (CLME, 2019)

The Jamaican spiny lobster stock is concentrated mainly on the offshore banks and to a lesser extent on the island shelf, with commercially viable quantities found particularly on the Pedro Bank, Morant Bank and Formigas Bank (Figure2) (Haughton & King, 1992). Spiny lobster represents the most economically important fishery resource in the Western Central Atlantic region of the Caribbean (Ehrhardt et al., 2009).

Figure 2. Location of main fishing grounds for Jamaican lobster.

The fishery is mainly artisanal (mainland and offshore) using traps, hookah diving and nets. Individual fisherfolk supply individuals and small intermediaries. The results of the initial survey at the White House indicate that fishing activity is both inshore mainland with small vessels that fish in day trips with 3-4 fishermen (mainland artisanal) and larger vessels with 10-15 fishermen that operateoperates for about 3-5 days in areas that include Pedro Bank (offshore artisanal). Fishing vessels are made of wood regardless of their size. No fisherfolk or group uses other transportation methods than wooden boats and outboard engines. (Hutchinson, et al 2021).

In April 2009, new Regulations are governing the Closure Season for spiny lobsters, which has been established between April 1 – June 30 each year. The Law indicates it is forbidden to catch, buy or sell lobsters during the Lobster Closure Season. It is also against the law to catch berried lobsters (with eggs) or undersized lobsters (under 3.5 inches in carapace length) throughout the year. At the beginning of the Closure Season all stored lobster must be reported to the fishing authority to allow its trade between April and June.

The spiny lobster fishery is the second most lucrative export fishery after the queen conch. In 2019, the total production of lobster was estimated to be approximately 229 tons (Hutchinson, et. al., 2021). 

The objective of this Project is to develop an improvement strategy as a way to consolidate responsible practices in the fishery, particularly the one located in White House. A White Paper on strengths and weaknesses on the fishery is in elaboration process right now as a basis for the Action Plan.