Fishery Management Plan for the Spiny Lobster Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic.

This Fishery Management Plan (FMP) concerns management of the Spiny Lobster fishery (one managed species is specified) in the U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone (FCZ) of the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic under the Jurisdiction of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The U.S. Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, under provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, is responsible for management of species within the geographical area of authority: approximately 264 thousand square miles in total with a continental shelf that ranges in width from about 12 miles off the Mississippi River to almost 200 miles off west Florida. To manage a given species (or groups of species), the Council must first develop a Federal Management Plan (FMP) and submit it to the Secretary of Commerce for approval. Spiny lobster is primarily a commercial species within the Gulf and South Atlantic although it does have recreational importance. The high value of spiny lobster gives the fishery major economic importance In southern Florida, where it supports a considerable amount of fishing and fishing related activity. The objectives of the FMP are to: 1) protect long-run yields and prevent depletion of lobster stocks; 2) increase yield by weight from the fishery; 3) reduce user group and gear conflicts in the fishery; 4) acquire the necessary information to manage the fishery; 5) promote efficiency in the fishery. No effects of lobster fishing on sea turtles (all are protected under the Endangered Species Act) and incidentally caught finfish are considered in the Plan. Lobster fishery of the United States waters of the Gulf of Mexico shall be managed on the basis of the Optimum Yield (OY).
Management measures of the Plan concern: a minimum harvestable size limit and return of undersized lobsters; establishment of a closed season; escapement of lobsters from lost traps; other gear requirements and specifications; establishment of a two-day recreational non-trap season; prohibited fishing methods; statistical reporting; protection of female lobsters. While the lobsters taken by recreational divers are for consumption, there is no subsistence fishing for spiny lobster. There are currently no treaties granting special Indian fishing rights for The species in Florida. However, a condition for fishermen participating In the spiny lobster economic adjustment program was an agreement not to fish for lobster in Florida. The total allowable level of foreign fishing (TALFF) is specified as zero for the spiny lobster fishery. U.S. fishing vessels have the capacity, intent, and are expected, to harvest the OY in this fishery.