Louisiana Blue Crab Commercial Fishery - Audubon G.U.L.F.

AUDUBON NATURE INSTITUTE GULF UNITED FOR LASTING FISHERIES (G.U.L.F.) RESPONSIBLE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION SCHEME Full Assessment and Certification Report For The

Louisiana Blue Crab Commercial Fishery Facilitated By the

Audubon Nature Institute

Assessors:

Vito Ciccia Romito, Lead Assessor Dr. Romuald N. Lipcius, Assessor Vince Guillory, Assessor Sam Dignan, Support Assessor

Report Code: Date:

LA/BLUEC/001/2016 24th October 2016

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Audubon G.U.L.F. RFM Certification Scheme

Louisiana Blue Crab Assessment Report (2016)

Foreword The G.U.L.F. Responsible Fisheries Management Standard is based on the substantive criteria contained within the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Guidelines for the Ecolabeling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries (originally published in 2005 and revised in 2009) and clauses from the relevant Articles of the 1995 United Nations FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. A full description of the standard-setting arrangements, normative references and processes can be obtained from Audubon Nature Institute (hereafter Audubon), owners of the Gulf United for Lasting Fisheries (G.U.L.F.) Responsible Fisheries Management Standard and Certification Scheme.

Normative Documents These main normative documents are:    

Audubon Nature Institute Gulf United for Lasting Fisheries (G.U.L.F.) Responsible Fisheries Management Standard, Issue 1.1 March 30th 2016 2005 FAO Guidelines for Ecolabeling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries (as updated in 2009) Relevant Articles of the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) (as referenced in Section 7) FAO Fisheries Circular 917 (1996)

Form 11 Issue 2, March 2016

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Table of Contents Foreword .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Normative Documents ................................................................................................................................ 2 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 3 List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. 6 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................... 8 I. Summary and Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 9 II. Schedule of Key Assessment Activities ............................................................................................... 10 III. Assessment Team Details .................................................................................................................. 11 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 12 1.1. Recommendations of the Assessment Team ................................................................................... 13 2. Fishery Applicant Details ....................................................................................................................... 14 3. Background to the Fishery ..................................................................................................................... 15 3.1. Species Biology .............................................................................................................................. 15 3.2. Fishery Location and Method ......................................................................................................... 17 3.3. Fishery Management History and Organization .............................................................................. 18 3.4. Stock Assessment Activities ........................................................................................................... 19 3.4.1. Stock assessment for western stock in Gulf of Mexico ....................................................................... 19 3.4.2. Stock assessment for Louisiana blue crab ........................................................................................... 22 3.5. Historic Biomass and Removals in the Fishery ................................................................................. 26 3.6. Economic Value of the Fishery ........................................................................................................ 27 4. Proposed Units of Assessment ............................................................................................................... 29 5. Consultation Meetings........................................................................................................................... 30 5.1. On-Site Assessment and Consultation Meetings ............................................................................. 30 5.2. Further Consultations and Meetings ............................................................................................... 31 6. Assessment Outcome Summary ............................................................................................................. 32 6.1. Conformity Statement ................................................................................................................... 34 7. Fishery Assessment Evidence ................................................................................................................. 35 Section A: The Fisheries Management System............................................................................................ 35 7.1. Fundamental Clause A1.................................................................................................................. 35 Supporting Clause 1.1. ................................................................................................................................... 35 Supporting Clause 1.2. ................................................................................................................................... 38 Supporting Clause 1.3. ................................................................................................................................... 41 Supporting Clause 1.4. ................................................................................................................................... 42 Supporting Clause 1.5. ................................................................................................................................... 44 Supporting Clause 1.6. ................................................................................................................................... 47 Supporting Clause 1.7. ................................................................................................................................... 49 Supporting Clause 1.8. ................................................................................................................................... 50 Supporting Clause 1.9. ................................................................................................................................... 51 Supporting Clause 1.10. ................................................................................................................................. 54 Supporting Clause 1.11. ................................................................................................................................. 56 Supporting Clause 1.12. ................................................................................................................................. 58 7.2. Fundamental Clause A2.................................................................................................................. 60 Supporting Clause 2.1. ................................................................................................................................... 60 Supporting Clause 2.2. ................................................................................................................................... 62 Supporting Clause 2.3. ................................................................................................................................... 63 Section B: Data Collection, Stock Assessment and Scientific Advice ............................................................ 65 7.3. Fundamental Clause B3 .................................................................................................................. 65 Form 11 Issue 2, March 2016

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Supporting Clause 3.1. ................................................................................................................................... 65 Supporting Clause 3.2. ................................................................................................................................... 70 Supporting Clause 3.3. ................................................................................................................................... 76 Supporting Clause 3.4. ................................................................................................................................... 79 Supporting Clause 3.5. ................................................................................................................................... 81 Supporting Clause 3.6. ................................................................................................................................... 83 Supporting Clause 3.7. ................................................................................................................................... 85 Supporting Clause 3.8. ................................................................................................................................... 86 Supporting Clause 3.9. ................................................................................................................................... 88 Section C: Management Objectives for the Stock ....................................................................................... 94 7.4. Fundamental Clause C4 .................................................................................................................. 94 Supporting Clause 4.1. ................................................................................................................................... 94 Supporting Clause 4.2. ................................................................................................................................... 97 Supporting Clause 4.3. ................................................................................................................................... 98 Supporting Clause 4.4. ................................................................................................................................. 100 Supporting Clause 4.5. ................................................................................................................................. 101 Supporting Clause 4.6. ................................................................................................................................. 102 Supporting Clause 4.7. ................................................................................................................................. 104 7.5. Fundamental Clause C5 ................................................................................................................ 107 Supporting Clause 5.1. ................................................................................................................................. 107 Supporting Clause 5.2. ................................................................................................................................. 110 Section D: Precautionary Approach ......................................................................................................... 112 7.6. Fundamental Clause D6................................................................................................................ 112 Supporting Clause 6.1. ................................................................................................................................. 112 Supporting Clause 6.2. ................................................................................................................................. 117 Supporting Clause 6.3. ................................................................................................................................. 119 Supporting Clause 6.4. ................................................................................................................................. 120 Supporting Clause 6.5. ................................................................................................................................. 121 Section E: Serious Impacts of the Fishery on the Ecosystem ...................................................................... 122 7.7. Fundamental Clause E7 ................................................................................................................ 122 Supporting Clause 7.1. ................................................................................................................................. 122 Supporting Clause 7.2. ................................................................................................................................. 136 Supporting Clause 7.3. ................................................................................................................................. 137 Supporting Clause 7.4. ................................................................................................................................. 138 Supporting Clause 7.5. ................................................................................................................................. 142 Supporting Clause 7.6. ................................................................................................................................. 146 Supporting Clause 7.7. ................................................................................................................................. 147 Supporting Clause 7.8. ................................................................................................................................. 154 Supporting Clause 7.9. ................................................................................................................................. 155 7.8. Fundamental Clause E8 ................................................................................................................ 156 Supporting Clause 8.1. ................................................................................................................................. 156 Supporting Clause 8.2. ................................................................................................................................. 157 8. External Peer Review ........................................................................................................................... 158 8.1. Summary and Recommendation Peer Reviewer 1 ......................................................................... 158 8.1.1. Full Summary of comments Peer Reviewer 1 .................................................................................... 158 8.2. Summary and Recommendation Peer Reviewer 2 ......................................................................... 165 8.2.1. Full Summary of comments Peer Reviewer 2 .................................................................................... 167 9. Non-Conformances and Corrective Actions .......................................................................................... 174 9.1. Non-Conformances and associated Corrective Actions .................................................................. 174 9.1.1. Non-conformances ............................................................................................................................ 174 Form 11 Issue 2, March 2016

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9.1.2. Corrective Actions .............................................................................................................................. 174 10. Recommendation and Determination ................................................................................................ 179 11. References ........................................................................................................................................ 180 12. Appendix 1. Assessment Team Bios.................................................................................................... 191 13. Appendix 2. Peer Reviewer Bios ......................................................................................................... 193 14. Appendix 3. Non-conformances, clarifications and communications ................................................... 194 14.1. Non-conformances #1, #2 and #3 issued ..................................................................................... 194 14.2. LDWF response to Assessment Team 1 ....................................................................................... 200 14.3. Assessment Team response to LDWF 1 ....................................................................................... 205 14.4. LDWF response to Assessment Team 2 ....................................................................................... 207 14.5. Assessment Team response to LDWF 2 ....................................................................................... 213 14.6. LDWF response to Assessment Team 3 ....................................................................................... 215 14.7. Assessment Team response to LDWF 3 ....................................................................................... 218 14.8. LDWF response to Assessment Team 4 ....................................................................................... 222 14.9. Non-conformance #4 issued ....................................................................................................... 223 14.10. LDWF acceptance of non-conformance #4 ................................................................................ 226 14.11. Assessment Team request for confirmation of corrective actions .............................................. 227 14.12. LDWF confirmation of corrective actions .................................................................................. 231

Form 11 Issue 2, March 2016

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List of Figures Figure 1. Schematic of blue crab life cycle (Source: Lipcius et al. 2007). .............................................................. 16 Figure 2. Major drainage basins in Louisiana that support the commercial blue crab fishery. ............................ 17 Figure 3. Proposed stock division of Gulf of Mexico blue crabs based on genetics and tagging studies in the northern Gulf. White line in NMFS statistical zone 8 (Apalachicola, Florida) defines the break between eastern (Zones 1-7) and western Gulf blue crab stocks (Zones 8-21) (Source: Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (2013)). .................................................................................................................................................................. 20 Figure 4. Composition of blue crab landings by state from the western and eastern stocks. Source: NOAA Fisheries Annual Commercial Landing Statistics. ................................................................................................................. 21 Figure 5. Western GOM stock status relative to proposed control rule. All points below the control rule line are not overfished or undergoing overfishing relative to the default limits proposed in this assessment. ............... 22 Figure 6. Map showing the boundaries of the seven management units used by LDWF. The boundaries are generally delineated by river basins. ..................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 7. Catch-per-unit-effort of adult blue crab. The predicted index was derived from lognormal observation error of the catch-survey model. The observed index is the delta-lognormal mean catch-per-tow from the LDWF fishery-independent trawl survey during 1968-2015. Adult crabs are ≥125mm carapace-width (Source: West et al. 2016). ............................................................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 8. Catch-per-unit-effort of juvenile blue crab. The predicted index was derived from lognormal observation error of the catch-survey model. The observed index is the delta-lognormal mean catch-per-tow from the LDWF fishery-independent trawl survey during 1968-2015. Juveniles are crabs ≥25mm and