September 1, 2026 — The federal waters surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are known for their vibrant fishing heritage, stunning scenery, and biodiverse coral reef ecosystems. Each island community’s unique connection to the sea is shaped by distinct cultural traditions.
Sustainable fisheries management requires carefully balancing conservation goals and local needs. In recent years, the U.S. Caribbean region has made significant strides in advancing fishery sustainability by prioritizing vital local collaborations.
A Distinctive Fishery Management Region
The 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act established the Caribbean Fishery Management Council as one of eight regional fishery management councils. It manages the federal waters that surround the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which abut multiple international boundaries. The Caribbean Council has the distinction of managing more species than any other council in the nation.
At first, the Caribbean Council followed the strategy of other regions by developing management measures that applied uniformly throughout the region. In 1985, that process culminated in the region’s first two fishery management plans: One for Caribbean spiny lobster, and another for the 64 most commonly landed shallow-water reef fish species. In the 1990s, the Council added plans for queen conch and aquarium species, and amended the reef fish plan to include deep-water reef fish.
Both single-species stock assessments and region-wide management plans were hampered by data limitations. Fishery-dependent data—which is based on fishermen reporting landings or port agents conducting surveys—was spotty. Most of the fish and shellfish harvest in the region came from small-scale commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishermen, making detailed data difficult to obtain. Fishery-independent data—based on scientific surveys—was also sparse due to limited resources to study a daunting number of species. In addition, the data that were available were more likely to be from Puerto Rico than the U.S. Virgin Islands, obscuring key differences across communities.
These data limitations resulted in uncertainty about how fish populations were faring and created a challenging position for managers tasked with understanding and classifying the status of stocks.