The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

MOST of The Bahamas’ signature seafood stocks are being fished faster than the sea can replace them, with 11 of 12 commercially and culturally important species now classified as overfished in a new study led by Sea Around Us researchers.

The findings, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, draw on reconstructed catch records spanning 73 years, from 1950 to 2022, and put scientific weight behind what Bahamian fishers have warned for years: many of the country’s most familiar seafood species are disappearing from local waters.

The study assessed 12 key marine species. Nassau grouper and yellowfin grouper were classified as “grossly overfished.” Queen conch, Caribbean spiny lobster, hogfish, black grouper, rock hind and wahoo were classified as “overfished.” Lane snapper, mutton snapper and gray snapper were listed as “slightly overfished.” Only dolphinfish, also known as mahi mahi, was classified as healthy.

The findings strike at the heart of Bahamian food culture, fisheries management and the country’s tourism-driven seafood economy. Spiny lobster and queen conch alone account for more than half the seafood The Bahamas has extracted from its waters over the last seven decades, according to the study.

Researchers estimated that The Bahamas removed about 1.3m tonnes of seafood from its waters between 1950 and 2022, averaging around 17,500 tonnes a year.

The recreational sector, including tourism-driven charter boats, sportfishing and visiting anglers, accounted for 46 percent of the reconstructed catch over the period. The industrial sector, dominated by the export-oriented spiny lobster fishery, accounted for 26 percent, while artisanal fishers accounted for 23 percent and subsistence fishing for five percent.

Caribbean spiny lobster represented 33 percent of the country’s total reconstructed catch, about 425,000 tonnes over the period studied. Queen conch accounted for another 21 percent.

Both are now classified as overfished. The study placed spiny lobster at 61 percent of the biomass needed to support maximum sustainable yield, while queen conch was at 59 percent.

Maximum sustainable yield refers to the theoretical highest catch a fish stock can sustain over the long term if environmental conditions remain relatively stable.

The reef groupers and snappers showed some of the most troubling signs.

Yellowfin grouper was estimated at just 40 percent of the biomass needed to support sustainable harvest, making it the worst-off species in the paper. Nassau grouper, listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as critically endangered since 2015, was placed at 49 percent.

The study found that Nassau grouper catches remained above the maximum sustainable yield for nearly 40 years before collapsing from a peak in the mid-1990s. The species has shown no sign of recovery since.

The study’s conclusions sharpen the pressure on fisheries managers, who have long faced the challenge of regulating culturally important seafood industries with incomplete data, uneven enforcement and strong public demand for local catch.

Dr Krista Sherman, a co-author of the study and researcher at the Perry Institute for Marine Science, said the overfished status of key species has direct consequences for local food supply.

“These species are the backbone of The Bahamas’ domestic seafood supply, supporting commercial and subsistence fishers across the islands and anchoring local food security. Their overfished status means fewer fish in local markets and on local plates unless management action is taken,” she said. “These assessments not only improve our understanding of the status of key fisheries but also provide a critical foundation for the sustainable management of these valuable resources moving forward.”