Fishing Affairs

Fishing Boats at Crashboat Beach, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Photographer Efraín Figueroa for Sea Grant Puerto Rico.

Fisheries

Commercial fisheries in Puerto Rico are essentially artisanal or small-scale, as most of them are carried out in coastal habitats or on the insular platform. The main fishing gears used are handlines, traps for catching reef fish, wooden boxes modified to catch lobsters, gillnets and trammel nets, longlines (both horizontal and vertical, the latter known as ‘cala’), trolling or ‘trolling’ as it is also known, hand collection when catching conch (Lobatus gigas), and spearfishing using diving equipment. Two other gears that are frequently used by some fishermen are the loop for catching lobsters and the pole spear for octopus. Over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of fishermen using spearfishing.

Recreational fishing is also practiced in Puerto Rico in different categories, from shore fishing and fishing from ‘corrida’ or ‘silga’ boats for migratory fish such as billfish, mahi-mahi, tuna, and wahoo, to spearfishing in reef areas near the drop-off or in deep waters. The latter type of fishing is known as ‘blue water hunting’ and is carried out in waters beyond the drop-off.

Challenges and Solutions

In recent decades, local fisheries have faced some challenges, including ocean pollution, destruction of essential habitats, overfishing, and, more recently, the dramatic effects of global warming.

At the Sea Grant College Program of Puerto Rico, we have been working on the development and implementation of effective strategies for the management and sustainable use of our fisheries resources, including the identification and conservation of essential fish habitats, such as spawning aggregation areas for snappers and groupers around the island. Additionally, at Sea Grant, we have been involved in the development of independent fisheries resource monitoring programs, the promotion of conservation practices, and ensuring full stakeholder participation in fisheries management. Furthermore, given the existence of various regulations governing fishing activity, education about the regulations that apply to each type of fishery (commercial or recreational) and the promotion and enforcement of these regulations are aspects of utmost importance towards which we have directed our efforts. There are multiple regulations, including local regulations from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PR-DNER) and federal regulations established by the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CFMC) that apply in Puerto Rico.

Our program provides technical support to the two Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) established in Puerto Rico: the Luis Peña Channel Reserve in Culebra and the Tres Palmas Reserve in Rincón. We have also proposed that the local government adopt ecosystem-based management strategies to increase stocks of economically important fish species in their natural environment.