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A regional shellfish hatchery for the Wider Caribbean – Assessing its feasibility and sustainability
Introduction The Republic of Panama has a continental platform of 3 983 km2, the majority of which is coastal (2 988 km2). Almost half of the coastal platform lies on the Caribbean side. Most of the artisanal and industrial fishing activity (95 percent) targets tunas, sardines, herrings and shrimp and is carried out in the Pacific Ocean. The Caribbean coast supports artisanal fishing of spider crabs, bivalve molluscs, queen conch and lobster; the latter being the most important product on the east and west coasts. Industrial fishing is not developed in the Caribbean Sea and for the most part does not compete with artisanal fishing; the only exception relates to lobster fishing, where approximately five fishing boats move from the Pacific coast on a yearly basis to fish this commodity. Lobster fishery There are strong indications, supported by export values and reduced harvest size, that overfishing of lobster is occurring. For this reason, conservation measures have been implemented since 1981 in the Republic of Panama; namely, minimal harvest size, and prohibition on harvest of egg-bearing lobsters. In addition, the Republic of Panama has adopted the regional closure of the fishing season for the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) since 2010. This regional measure was promoted by the Organization of Fishing and Aquaculture in Central America (Organización del Sector Pesquero y Acuícola de Centroamerica – OSPESCA), advocating for lobster fishing season to be closed between 1 February and 30 June and followed by all Central American countries. Figure 1 illustrates lobster fishing areas on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, with the majority found on the Caribbean side.
Figure 1
Lobster fishing zone; red circles indicate zone
Source: Araúz, 2008.