UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE Southeast Regional Office 263 13th Avenue South St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/region/southeast
July 29, 2025
F/SER28:SS
Carlos Farchette, Chair Caribbean Fishery Management Council 270 Luis Muñoz Rivera Avenue, Suite 401 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918 Dear Mr. Farchette, This letter advises the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) that the Puerto Rico spiny lobster stock continues to be subject to overfishing based on 2023 data from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER). The Puerto Rico Fishery Management Plan (FMP) specified overfishing and overfished status determination criteria for the spiny lobster stock in federal waters off Puerto Rico. In years when the stock is assessed, spiny lobster is determined to be subject to overfishing if the fishing mortality rate (F) exceeds the maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT). Spiny lobster is overfished if spawning stock biomass (SSB) is less than the minimum stock size threshold (MSST). In years when the stock is not assessed, spiny lobster is determined to be subject to overfishing if landings exceed the overfishing limit (OFL). In a letter dated October 4, 2024, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) informed the Council the Puerto Rico spiny lobster stock was determined to not be overfished 1 but subject to overfishing 2 based on the results of the Southeast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) 57 Update Assessment, which used landings and length data through 2021. The most recent (2023 3) spiny lobster landings data available from the Puerto Rico DNER confirm our previous determination that the stock is subject to overfishing, as the total adjusted 4 commercial landings of spiny lobster in Puerto Rico in 2023 are 696,121 pounds (lbs) whole weight (ww), which is 158% of the 440,803 lbs ww OFL established for 2023 by Framework Amendment 1 and 163% of the current 426,858 lbs ww OFL established by Framework Amendment 2. Section 303(a)(15) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requires the FMP to establish a mechanism for specifying annual catch limits (ACLs) at a level that ensures overfishing does not occur in the fishery, including measures to ensure accountability. For spiny lobster, the ACL and OFL are based on the combined federal and territorial landings reported by Puerto Rico commercial fishermen, and NMFS uses those data to monitor landings relative to those reference points. Because most 1
SSB (120 trillion eggs) > MSST (83.9 trillion eggs). F (0.214) > MFMT (0.198). 3 Commercial landings provided by the Puerto Rico DNER experience a one to two year delay in availability. 4 Puerto Rico landings are adjusted using an expansion factor determined by DNER staff at the Fisheries Research Laboratory, which is based on intercept sampling of commercial fishermen. 2