Establishing Baseline American Lobster and Jonah Crab Demographics for Assessment of Marine National Monument Impacts.

Long, Michael, Stephen Arnott, Aubrey Ellertson, David N. Bethoney, Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, Kingston, RI

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are designed to preserve valuable or unique ecological areas by preventing anthropogenic uses within their boundaries. However, it is often difficult to assess the effectiveness of MPAs once they are established, as appropriate data may not be available of prior and resulting conditions within the MPA. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was established in 2016 and prevented most commercial fishing within its borders. Since 2016, timelines for closure of the American lobster and Jonah crab fishery within the Monument have changed multiple times. While the fishery is currently permitted within the Monument, a prohibition is scheduled for September 2023. We characterized the American lobster and Jonah crab fishery resources within the Monument and adjacent areas through data provided by commercial fishing vessels as part of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation Lobster and Jonah Crab Research Fleet. Using a tablet application, fishermen collected biological data of their catch including individual sex, size, shell hardness, shell disease status, egg status, v-notch status, and retained/discarded status. Comparisons of Monument data and adjacent areas revealed unique catch characteristics for many biological parameters collected; however, differences were seen for lobster and Jonah crab. This study is the first to characterize the lobster and Jonah crab fishery within the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and provides the baseline conditions to enable a Before-After-Control-Impact approach to assess the effectiveness of the MPA if the lobster and crab fishery is eventually closed within the Monument.