Marine Resources Assessment for the Marianas Operating ... - SPREP

AUGUST 2005 FINAL REPORT
Table 4-4. Crustaceans management unit species EFH designations. Source data: WPRFMC (1998,
2001). [Habitat: Mangrove (Ma); Lagoon (La); Estuarine (Es); Seagrass Beds (SB); Soft Substrate (Ss); Coral
Reef/Hard Substrate (Cr/Hs); Patch Reefs (Pr); Surge Zone (Sz); Deep-slope Terraces (DST); Pelagic/Open Ocean
(Pe). Life History Stage: Egg (E); Larvae (L); Juvenile (J); Adult (A); Spawners (S)]
Management Unit
Species/Taxa Ma La Es SB Ss Cr/Hs Pr Sz DST Pe Comments
CRUSTACEANS
Spiny and Slipper
Lobster Complex
Spiny lobster
(Panulirus
penicillatus,
Panulirus spp.)
Chinese slipper
lobster (Parribacus
antarcticus)
All A,J All All All L
4-13
A
Depth
distribution: 9 -
183 m
Depth
distribution: 0-
20 m
Samoa and Guam, the CNMI, and the Pacific remote island areas of Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef,
Palmyra and Midway Atolls, and Jarvis, Howland, Baker and Wake Islands (WPRFMC 2001). For the
purpose of this fishery management plan, these areas make up the Western Pacific Region and CHCRT
and Potentially Harvested Coral Reef Taxa (PHCRT) will only be delineated by specific U.S. Pacific Island
areas when information is available. While this MRA focuses on the CNMI and Guam study area, all
family information provided corresponds to the entire Western Pacific Region unless otherwise noted.
In addition to EFH, WPRFMC also identified HAPC which are specific areas within EFH that are essential
to the life cycle of important coral reef species.
HAPC for all life stages of the CRE MUS includes all hardbottom substrate between 0 and 100 m depth in
the study area. Five individual HAPC sites have been identified for the island of Guam, one of which,
Jade Shoals, occurs within Apra Harbor. Orote Point Ecological Reserve Area lies immediately outside of
Apra Harbor. The remaining three occur in the northern (Ritidian Point), northwest (Haputo Ecological
Preserve), and southern (Cocos Lagoon) areas of the island (Research Planning Inc. 1994; WPRFMC
2001; Figure D-22).
4.2.4.2 Currently Harvested Coral Taxa
The CHCRT are managed under the CRE FMP by the WPRFMC (2001). CHCRT are species that have
been identified which: (1) are currently being harvested in state and federal waters and for which some
fishery information is available, and (2) are likely to be targeted in the near future based on historical
catch data. The WPRFMC has designated EFH for these MUS based on the ecological relationships
among the species and their preferred habitat. These species complexes are grouped by the known
depth distributions of individual species (WPRFMC 2001). A complete list of managed species occurring
in the study area and their respective fishery management units are found in Table 4-1.
4.2.4.2.1 Fish families
♦ Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes)
Status—Twenty-four of the 25 species of surgeonfish managed in Micronesia as part of the CHCRT
by the WPRFMC (2001) occur in CNMI and Guam (Amesbury and Myers 2001; Myers and
Donaldson 2003) and have EFH designated within the boundaries of the study area (WPRFMC 2001;
NMFS 2004c). In addition, another 14 species of surgeonfishes are found in the study and have EFH
designated under the PHCRT (WPRFMC 2001). Currently, no data are available to determine if
surgeonfishes of the CHCRT are approaching an overfished situation (NMFS 2004a). Surgeonfish
are an important food source and are typically caught by spearfishing or nets as part of the traditional