The preliminary annual landings in the tables below correspond to the fishery management units set under the 2010 and 2011 Annual Catch Limit Amendments to the Caribbean Fishery Management Council’s Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan, effective 1985-2022.
In October 2022, the Puerto Rico Fishery Management Plan, the St. Croix Fishery Management Plan, and the St. Thomas and St. John Fishery Management Plan replaced the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan, the Spiny Lobster Fishery Management Plan, the Corals and Reef Associated Plants and Invertebrates Fishery Management Plan, and the Queen Conch Fishery Management Plan for management of federal fisheries in the U.S. Caribbean region.
Reef Fish Management Unit |
ACL |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
|
Angelfish |
8,984 |
. |
. |
. |
57 |
90 |
. |
. |
. |
|
Boxfish |
86,115 |
48,632 |
35,613 |
38,722 |
41,621 |
38,986 |
33,604 |
40,390 |
42,336 |
|
Goatfish |
17,565 |
11,532 |
5,956 |
7,390 |
7,157 |
6,773 |
4,196 |
6,778 |
4,422 |
|
Groupers |
177,513 |
67,048 |
51,030 |
63,180 |
75,838 |
71,200 |
43,589 |
61,907 |
68,710 |
|
Grunts |
182,396 |
33,723 |
23,243 |
25,162 |
26,357 |
27,652 |
21,001 |
27,049 |
27,595 |
|
Jacks |
86,059 |
50,617 |
32,662 |
41,041 |
49,792 |
39,766 |
31,293 |
38,510 |
61,316 |
|
Parrotfish |
52,737 |
60,156 |
48,593 |
53,910 |
45,599 |
47,122 |
23,114 |
34,962 |
37,555 |
|
Snapper Unit 1 |
284,685 |
204,098 |
138,310 |
215,635 |
203,824 |
243,283 |
225,211 |
223,174 |
340,288 |
|
Snapper Unit 2 |
145,916 |
184,621 |
108,532 |
174,478 |
180,738 |
124,428 |
95,122 |
112,214 |
165,151 |
|
Snapper Unit 3 |
345,775 |
218,288 |
145,512 |
167,467 |
159,898 |
136,043 |
112,625 |
140,861 |
166,997 |
|
Snapper Unit 4 |
373,295 |
209,368 |
131,254 |
193,179 |
178,093 |
188,221 |
126,399 |
150,602 |
165,397 |
|
Scups & Porgies |
24,739 |
32,928 |
18,372 |
18,044 |
16,939 |
18,938 |
14,471 |
19,979 |
17,544 |
|
Squirrelfish |
16,663 |
8,789 |
5,820 |
6,219 |
7,990 |
5,328 |
2,820 |
3,399 |
2,780 |
|
Surgeonfish |
7,179 |
. |
. |
65 |
108 |
. |
112 |
. |
CONF |
|
Triggerfish & Filefish |
58,475 |
76,826 |
64,112 |
71,832 |
71,407 |
66,160 |
40,441 |
57,140 |
56,867 |
|
Wrasses |
54,147 |
68,599 |
48,942 |
60,045 |
54,778 |
54,197 |
31,914 |
71,856 |
59,187 |
Reef FishManagement Unit |
ACL |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
Angelfish |
4,492 |
. |
379 |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
Boxfish |
4,616 |
1,582 |
1,304 |
986 |
7,696 |
1,066 |
. |
|
Goatfish |
362 |
110 |
. |
. |
195 |
. |
. |
|
Groupers |
77,213 |
18,170 |
3,379 |
30,589 |
7,449 |
109,447 |
1,430 |
|
Grunts |
5,028 |
3,343 |
716 |
2,730 |
997 |
5,153 |
113 |
|
Jacks |
51,001 |
58,828 |
34,904 |
81,560 |
48,660 |
194,529 |
17,938 |
|
Parrotfish |
15,263 |
9,732 |
8,728 |
44,736 |
19,394 |
1,315 |
123 |
|
Scups & Porgies |
2,577 |
2,177 |
156 |
5,611 |
- |
18,930 |
655 |
|
Snapper Unit 1 |
95,526 |
41,361 |
25,889 |
24,934 |
24,206 |
35,245 |
18,765 |
|
Snapper Unit 2 |
34,810 |
3,924 |
. |
. |
794 |
12,513 |
. |
|
Snapper Unit 3 |
83,158 |
45,170 |
47,400 |
59,773 |
74,060 |
136,047 |
52,656 |
|
Snapper Unit 4 |
28,509 |
16,266 |
5,018 |
9,365 |
27,864 |
47,108 |
33,619 |
|
Squirrelfish |
3,891 |
330 |
. |
388 |
1,298 |
258 |
- |
|
Surgeonfish |
3,590 |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
- |
|
Triggerfish & Filefish |
21,929 |
14,250 |
2,198 |
39,887 |
27,577 |
4,233 |
- |
|
Wrasses |
5,050 |
4,482 |
3,606 |
43,891 |
1,495 |
2,004 |
47 |
Reef Fish Management Unit |
ACL |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
| Angelfish | 7,897 | 16,077 | 16,204 | 21,106 | 19,457 | 21,600 | 17,512 | 16,547 | 14,309 | 14,838 |
| Boxfish | 27,880 | 12,303 | 10,982 | 11,333 | 11,425 | 10,860 | 7,938 | 5,884 | 5,101 | 5,339 |
| Goatfish | 320 | CONF | CONF | . | CONF | CONF | . | . | . | . |
| Groupers | 51,849 | 41,412 | 38,681 | 38,076 | 33,611 | 43,105 | 35,012 | 31,035 | 34,459 | 37,688 |
| Grunts | 37,617 | 16,113 | 11,566 | 11,701 | 11,862 | 15,501 | 17,947 | 19,981 | 19,549 | 18,655 |
| Jacks | 52,907 | 45,551 | 25,430 | 43,956 | 34,030 | 25,191 | 30,479 | 27,063 | 22,734 | 19,101 |
| Parrotfish | 42,500 | 17,224 | 17,660 | 16,283 | 14,588 | 15,208 | 11,724 | 9,890 | 12,113 | 8,006 |
| Scups & Porgies | 21,819 | 10,112 | 9,433 | 10,388 | 10,224 | 9,205 | 6,583 | 7,135 | 5,622 | 5,318 |
| Snappers | 133,775 | 53,964 | 36,462 | 51,160 | 40,493 | 43,126 | 35,520 | 33,951 | 35,112 | 34,755 |
| Squirrelfish | 4,241 | 9,817 | 9,504 | 9,258 | 7,334 | 8,914 | 5,598 | 6,105 | 5,486 | 5,391 |
| Surgeonfish | 29,249 | 15,093 | 12,580 | 13,184 | 11,460 | 15,751 | 12,727 | 10,679 | 10,443 | 9,481 |
| Triggerfish & Filefish | 74,447 | 46,047 | 45,048 | 51,537 | 51,520 | 52,918 | 39,365 | 42,249 | 36,358 | 42,507 |
| Wrasses | 585 | 1,823 | 1,903 | 2,639 | 2,184 | 2,646 | 2,694 | 2,885 | 2,846 | 3,689 |
Reef Fish Management Unit |
ACL |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
| Angelfish | 305 | 14,268 | 8,890 | 5,406 | 5,579 | 6,545 | 6,144 | 1,611 | 1,556 | 7,175 |
| Boxfish | 8,433 | 1,822 | 1,755 | 1,047 | 1,132 | 1,505 | 1,431 | 196 | 290 | 455 |
| Goatfish | 3,766 | 534 | 339 | 255 | 174 | 1,507 | 2,332 | 793 | 284 | 3,640 |
| Groupers | 30,435 | 29,866 | 22,977 | 14,182 | 13,575 | 16,645 | 15,106 | 3,124 | 5,386 | 11,966 |
| Grunts | 36,881 | 24,784 | 18,644 | 10,308 | 10,996 | 10,763 | 6,267 | 2,804 | 3,962 | 9,374 |
| Jacks | 15,489 | 8,360 | 14,563 | 4,286 | 4,987 | 4,890 | 3,411 | 1,988 | 1,218 | 3,958 |
| Parrotfish | 240,000 | 118,867 | 107,437 | 75,442 | 86,345 | 90,061 | 69,598 | 17,989 | 21,111 | 61,060 |
| Scups & Porgies | 4,638 | 212 | 96 | 45 | 44 | 387 | 313 | 117 | 142 | 189 |
| Snappers | 102,946 | 67,522 | 65,370 | 44,381 | 44,147 | 52,017 | 40,987 | 11,741 | 15,830 | 34,980 |
| Squirrelfish | 121 | 600 | 490 | 283 | 450 | 480 | 227 | 468 | 476 | 1,982 |
| Surgeonfish | 33,603 | 21,245 | 12,641 | 9,624 | 9,364 | 14,155 | 10,362 | 2,295 | 3,734 | 13,852 |
| Triggerfish & Filefish | 24,980 | 22,658 | 13,950 | 8,831 | 9,242 | 9,857 | 9,630 | 4,427 | 3,151 | 4,687 |
| Wrasses | 7 | CONF | CONF | . | CONF | 269 | 102 | CONF | CONF | 109 |
Angelfish: Queen angelfish, gray angelfish, French angelfish
Boxfish: Honeycomb cowfish, scrawled cowfish, trunkfish, spotted trunkfish, smooth trunkfish
Goatfish: Spotted goatfish, yellow goatfish
Groupers: Nassau grouper**, goliath grouper**, coney, graysby, red hind, rock hind, black grouper, red grouper, tiger grouper, yellowfin grouper, misty grouper, yellowedge grouper
Grunts: White grunt, margate, tomtate, bluestriped grunt, French grunt, porkfish
Jacks: Blue runner, horse-eye jack, black jack, almaco jack, bar jack, greater amberjack, yellow jack
Parrotfish: Blue parrotfish**, midnight parrotfish**, rainbow parrotfish**, queen parrotfish, rainbow parrotfish, redfin parrotfish, redtail parrotfish, stoplight parrotfish, redband parrotfish, striped parrotfish
Scups & Porgies: Jolthead porgy, sea bream, sheepshead porgy, pluma
Snapper Unit 1: Black snapper, blackfin snapper, silk snapper, vermilion snapper, wenchman
Snapper Unit 2: Cardinal snapper, queen snapper
Snapper Unit 3: Gray snapper, lane snapper, mutton snapper, dog snapper, schoolmaster, mahogany snapper
Snapper Unit 4: Yellowtail snapper
Squirrelfish: Blackbar soldierfish, bigeye, longspine squirrelfish, squirrelfish
Surgeonfish: Blue tang, ocean surgeonfish, doctorfish
Triggerfish & Filefish: Ocean triggerfish, queen triggerfish, sargassum triggerfish, scrawled filefish, whitespotted filefish, black durgon
Wrasses: Hogfish, puddingwife, Spanish hogfish
** Harvest is prohibited
FOR THE MOST CURRENT FEDERAL REGULATIONS: Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 622 - Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic
An oceanic whitetip shark swims near the surface of the water. Photo courtesy of John Carlson.
Barotrauma expands gasses in a fish causing the air bladder and other organs to expand as well, making it difficult for fish to swim after release. Credit: NOAA Fisheries, Florida SeaGrant
Recreational fisherman with red snapper.
