Seagrass management ; Amendment 4 to the fishery management plan for corals and reef associated plants and invertebrates of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI; Coral FMP) ;

Crabtree, Roy E.

The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Caribbean Council) prepared Amendment 4 to address the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) requirement to establish annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for seagrass species in the Coral FMP. Seagrasses provide essential habitat for many important fishery species in the U.S. Caribbean, but there is no directed harvest of these species. If seagrasses are kept in the coral reef resources fishery management unit of the Coral FMP, the establishment of ACLs and AMs is required. These were not established for seagrasses in the 2011 Caribbean ACL Amendment. Amendment 4 considers four alternatives: 1) No action; 2) a prohibition on the harvest of seagrasses and the establishment of an ACL; 3) the classification of seagrasses as ecosystem component species; and 4) the removal of seagrasses from the Coral FMP. Alternative 4 is the Caribbean Council's preferred alternative. The National Marine Fisheries Service, in collaboration with the Caribbean Council, has developed Amendment 4 and its Environmental Assessment to describe and analyze these management alternatives and address the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Environmental Assessment

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)