Efficacy of conservation measures for the American lobster: reproductive value as a criterion

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Xu, Cailin, Schneider, David C.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2012
• Subjects: Articles; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/69/10/1831; https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss143

<qd> Xu, C., and Schneider, D. C. 2012. Efficacy of conservation measures for the American lobster: reproductive value as a criterion – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1831–1839. </qd> Reproductive value takes into account both current and future value, effectively characterizing the value of an individual to the population. In this study, we use reproductive value as a criterion to evaluate the effectiveness of several conservation measures that have been undertaken or proposed for the American lobster ( Homarus americanus ) fishery in Newfoundland. These measures are slot fishing (i.e. no fishing below or above certain sizes), marine protected areas (MPAs), V-notching, and window fishing (i.e. no fishing within a size window). Reproductive value was estimated by using catch length data available from commercial fisheries and research surveys. We found that MPAs had the greatest effect, followed by V-notching and slot-fishing. MPAs resulted in an average increase of 64.9% in total reproductive value, V-notching an average increase of 18.3%, and slot fishing an average increase of 16.8%. In general, window fishing was not effective unless the size of the window was large. For instance, an average increase of 8.7% in total reproductive value would require a wide window (100–129 mm). Our results provide a scientific basis for evaluating conservation measures in a way that integrates population demographical information with information from commercial fisheries and research surveys.