Effect of Environmental Variability on Lobster Stocks (Panulirus) in Waters off Brazil and Cuba

Abstract

We evaluated the impact of environmental variability on lobster Panulirus argus and Panulirus laevicauda resources in the waters off Brazil and southern Cuba. This study also covered aspects of larval recruitment associated with the availability of fishing resources in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Satellite-generated environmental data were sampled from 18 stations, 6 of which were in the sea off southern Cuba, 6 of which were in the coastal region of Brazil, and 6 of which were offshore near Brazil, covering important lobster fishing grounds and phyllosoma-rich areas of ocean surface circulation along the offshore boundary. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was used to quantify the global ocean–atmosphere variability. Other environmental parameters included in the analysis were the monthly coastal sea levels, surface temperature (SST), salinity, wind/current speed, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations, rainfall (RF), and Amazon River discharge (ARD). Variations in the level of puerulus settlement, juveniles, and population harvest in the coastal region of Brazil and Cuba were used to better understand the impact of environmental variability on organisms in their larval stages and their subsequent recruitment to fisheries. The surface temperature, chlorophyll-a concentration, and wind/current patterns were significantly associated with the variability in puerulus settlement. Largerscale processes (as proxied by the SOI) affected RF, ARD, and sea levels, which reached a maximum during La Niña. As for Brazil, the full-year landings prediction model included Chl-a concentration, SST, RF, and ARD and their association with lobster landings (LLs). The landing predictions for Cuba were based on fluctuations in the Chl-a concentration and SST.