1. Observations on Fisheries Activities at Navassa Island.
- Author
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Miller, M. W., McClellan, D. B., and Bégin, C.
- Subjects
- *
FISHERIES , *SMALL-scale fisheries , *HAWKSBILL turtle , *AQUATIC resources - Abstract
Unmanaged and unquantified artisanal fishing is ongoing at Navassa Island, a small oceanic island about 70 km west of Haiti that is part of the US. Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Concern has been expressed regarding the possible impact of these fishing activities on reef resources, and no quantitative catch or effort data are available. However informal qualitative observations made during a cruise in November 2002 suggest that escalation in fishing activity (and impact) has occurred since previous observations made in April 2000. Namely, size structure offish was markedly reduced and the adoption of net fishing has allowed the exploitation of queen conch, Strombas gigas, and hawks- bill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003