About 30 St. Croix fisherman made their feelings clear to the Caribbean Fishery Management Council Thursday night: A total closure of federal waters to conch fishing is not acceptable.
Officials from the CFMC, one of eight established by federal law to manage fisheries within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, visited St. Thomas on Tuesday, St. John on Wednesday and the Big Island Thursday to take comments and suggestions from territorial fisherman on 12 proposals aimed at halting the decline of conch in federal waters surrounding the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The CFMC’s preferred alternative to protect deep water spawning stocks of the queen conch would be to close the EEZ completely. In the Virgin Islands, the EEZ extends three miles to 200 miles from the shores of the islands. The area from shore to the three mile limit belongs to the territory.
"The reason why the scientists . . . recommended to close the EEZ is because the fishery is going down," said Miguel Rolos, director of the Puerto Rico-based CFMC. "We believe this is a topic that is important for the area."
The turnout of fisherman on St. Croix, mostly members of the St. Croix Commercial Fishermen’s Association, was by far the largest of the CFMC’s three hearings. After airing their views on the closure, the Crucian contingent’s main points were prohibiting scuba gear to collect conch would basically end conch fishing in the deeper federal waters and that fishermen should be allowed to dump empty conch shells at sea instead of hauling them to shore.
Both local and federal law mandates that fishermen bring conch to shore in the shell before cleaning the animal. The idea is that enforcement officials can check to make sure the conch being taken are of legal size and that dumping empty shells on conch beds scares juvenile conch to deeper water.
Because most St. Croix fishermen have to travel up to 10 miles to reach conch beds, carrying the heavy shells back to shore in their small vessels, already laden with gear and divers, is a dangerous proposition, especially in high seas.
Their suggestion to the CFMC is to establish set shell-dumping areas a mile or so from the conch beds in order to reduce wear-and-tear on their boats and make for a safer trip back to shore. Robert McAuliffe, president of the Fisherman’s United Service Cooperative of St. Croix, said that a boat’s legal limit of 150 conch can weigh between 300 and 400 pounds. In rough seas, he said that can shorten the usable life of a boat by 75 percent.
"That’s one of the concerns, wear and tear on the boats. It’s a lot easier if we get a dumping ground that is no more than two miles of travel," said fisherman Roberto Rivera. "Why have a new boat, take a loan for seven years and it’s only going to last two years?"
Another issue that rankles fisherman is that during the closed season on conch, between July 1 and Sept. 30, stores and restaurants are selling conch under the premise that it is imported.
"In the past years, certain fisherman have been catching them and selling them on the black market," said Gerson Martinez, vice president of the St. Croix Commercial Fishermen’s Association. "The three-month closure should prohibit stores and restaurants from selling them."
That is an enforcement and legislative issue that has to be settled locally, Rolon said, adding that the CFMC cannot prohibit imports to U.S. shores.
Meanwhile, several fishermen said the proposals overlook one crucial thing: There are plenty of conch in the deep water surrounding St. Croix.
"I see them spawning up to 115 feet deep," Martinez said. "I’ve seen babies in 25 to 30 feet in shallow water in the grasses."
McAuliffe questioned the CFMC’s findings that say conch are being over fished when St. Croix has "such an outstanding fishery . . . year after year?"
Rolon said CFMC scientists are now crunching data collected from conch landings in 1999 and that would give a better idea of the situation on St. Croix.
In the meantime, the CFMC will meet on St. Thomas next month to discuss the proposals and by November decide on the next step it will take.
"From what we've heard today, there is a lot of work for the management council," he said.
