Gauging sustainable spiny lobster fisheries.

Story & Photos By Marta Calosso & John Claydon, Founders & Directors, FisherFolkFirst

The majority of commercial fishers in the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) are free-divers, and their fishing techniques have remained largely unchanged for almost 50 years. This fact should be celebrated as a testament to the quality of the TCI’s marine resources and the potential sustainability of its small-scale fisheries.

Fishers in other countries need to resort to increasingly industrial and intensive techniques, often fishing for days before returning to port. On the contrary, fishers in the TCI use small boats, go out in the morning, return in the afternoon, and with nothing more than a mask, fins, snorkel, and a hook at the end of a stick, they can catch a phenomenal amount of seafood: at the start of the lobster season, a boat with two free-divers can catch over 1,000 lbs (c. 450 kg) of spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) in one day’s fishing, some getting almost 2,000 lbs (c. 900 kg).

TCI fishers can catch a phenomenal amount of seafood using only mask, fins, snorkel, and hook. Here, fishers bring their lobster catch to the dock in South Caicos.

Several factors help to make the TCI’s free-diving lobster fisheries more sustainable. Although local fishers are impressive divers, there is a limit to how deep they can go, and so all lobsters deeper than around 120 ft (c. 36 m) will be out of their reach. This, along with an extensive network of National Parks, Nature Reserves, Sanctuaries, and other protected areas, creates a very large refuge from fishing where lobsters can grow, reproduce, and supply fishing areas with larger and more lobsters to catch.

A crucial element of the sustainability equation, and one that helps provide good livelihoods for fishers, is that there are relatively few commercial fishers in the country and they operate over a comparatively large area of marine space. Fishing regulations also help: there is a closed season (typically from April 1 to July 31), a ban on using noxious chemicals to fish, a ban on fishing while using SCUBA or hookah (a tube supplying compressed air to breathe underwater), a ban on catching lobsters bearing eggs, and a requirement that all lobsters caught need to be above the legal minimum size — having a carapace of 3¼ inches long (83 mm), measured from the front of the groove between the horns directly above the eyes, along the middle of the back to the rear edge of the back shell. Having a minimum size ensures that lobsters have a chance to reproduce before they are caught. Therefore, if you are fishing for lobsters, it is a legal requirement to have a gauge on your boat and to return any undersized lobsters back to the sea.

Captain Timothy Hamilton, fisher and ecotour operator, uses one of the new lobster gauges.

Fishers and fisheries officers had been requesting minimum size lobster gauges to help ensure compliance with the regulations. Unfortunately, none had been available in the country for several years. Some fishers resorted to using homemade gauges fashioned out of plywood or plastic; others used their fingers as a guide; but many just relied on their experience to judge by eye which lobsters were big enough to keep. FisherFolkFirst, a local non-profit organization, worked closely with the TCI Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources Management (DFMRM) and with local fishers to address this problem. Together, they identified the most suitable gauge on the market and, with funds raised from the UK Government, FisherFolkFirst planned to buy enough gauges to give one to every commercial fisher throughout the Islands. However, when Tom Bird, the owner of the company supplying the gauges (Trident Diving Equipment Inc.), learned about FisherFolkFirst’s work to empower the unique fishing community of the TCI, he generously dropped his prices in support, and FisherFolkFirst was able to purchase twice as many gauges as originally planned. As a result, the DFMRM now has enough gauges in stock to cover demand for future years.  

Marta Calosso and John Claydon from FisherFolkFirst travelled around the country and, with the help of the DFMRM, handed out gauges to commercial fishers, seafood processing plants, recreational fishers, fisheries officers, and anyone else who was interested in having a lobster gauge. This involved visiting as many of the docks and landing sites as possible on the three major fishing islands: South Caicos, Providenciales, and Grand Turk. They also created and posted flyers informing the public that gauges could (and still can) be picked up by fishers for free at all DFMRM offices. To reach all groups in the fishing community, including immigrant fishers and fish workers, flyers were written in English, Spanish, and Creole. 

The response from fishers, the fishing industry, the general public, and the government has been extremely positive. There has also been interest from the sport fishing community and from educators to use gauges for environmental classes in schools. The lobster gauges have not only empowered fishers to harvest sustainably but have also broadened awareness about the importance of minimum sizes for lobsters and other fishery species.

A seafood worker ensures that lobsters are of legal size.

Building awareness is a crucial step towards developing local stewardship of marine biodiversity among fishers, Turks & Caicos Islanders in general, and visitors alike. In fact, fishers and fisheries officers are now keen on getting suitable gauges for other species with size restrictions, such as queen conch, Nassau grouper, bonefish, and snappers. In response to this demand, FisherFolkFirst will work with the DFMRM and the fishing community to start providing these tools. 

Empowering fisherfolk to build sustainable, prosperous livelihoods while developing the country’s capacity to manage its fisheries are key to maintaining healthy oceans for everyone and will be the focus of FisherFolkFirst’s work moving forward.

FisherFolkFirst is a nonprofit organization registered in the TCI and strives for environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable small-scale fisheries where fisherfolk are empowered, coastal and marine environments are healthy, and where fisherfolk have secure prosperous futures. To learn more about FisherFolkFirst or to support their work, please visit www.fisherfolkfirst.org or email Marta Calosso at ma***********@fi*************.org. The work described in the article was part of FisherFolkFirst’s “Developing biodiversity stewardship among TCI fishers through outreach and education” project (www.fisherfolkfirst.org/developing-biodiversity-stewardship-among-tci-fishers-through-outreach-and-education) and was funded by the UK Government’s Darwin Plus local grant scheme and through the support of local businesses in the TCI. For more information about the TCI’s fishing regulations visit www.fisherfolkfirst.org/tci-fishing-regulations.