Eileen Alicea

2016

2017

The term 'carrying capacity', as applied to controlling human impacts in protected areas, is increasingly understood to be affected by more than changes in ecology and habitat damage; visitor demands, behavior, and experiences, which are based on factors in addition to or other than the natural state of the resource, can significant alter the carrying capacity of a protected area. By contrast, the LAC concept shifts the focus from a numerical target, as prescribed under the carrying capacity approach, to the maintenance of desired resource and social conditions. The conceptual core of LAC consists of identifying and designating goals that are in conflict, determining initial and ultimate constraining goals, and managing the initial constraining goal such that the ultimate constraining goal is not compromised beyond the LAC. As a follow up on the PR priority setting process, this project will use an LAC framework in a broader, characterization project to identify, quantify, and compare the different user types and use patterns in the Northwest Reserves regional area. This area, bounded by Luquillo to the west and the eastern islands of Culebra and Vieques, contains important and vulnerable coastal and marine resources, which are subject to a variety of extractive and non-extractive uses. The uses include an artisanal, commercial fleet whose effort emanates from Luquillo to the northeast, Humacao to the south, and Vieques to the east. The area also hosts a diverse and concentrated tourism sector, consisting of large catamarans, smaller charter fishing and dive vessels, private vessels, and a dedicated ferry, in which visitors and residents frequent the area and its mangroves, sea grasses, coral reefs to participate in fishing, diving and snorkeling, and other marine recreation activities. While the uses have been reported in past NOAA funded projects, the extent of the use and its potential impacts on the area's fragile ecosystems remains unclear. That is, while the uses have been identified and use patterns have been determined for several of the regional stakeholders, visitor loads and activities, vessel boating patterns, and user and stakeholder views on resource conditions and changes are less well understood. This project intends to fill this gap by conducting preliminary activities needed to arrive at management recommendations. The project also complements the FY11-14 funded project North-East Marine Corridor Integrated Management Plan and the NE PR-Culebra Habitat Focus Area Implementation Plan. It will use data from Battista's Characterizing Human Use Impacts in the North East Reserves, a current NCCOS project that seeks to identify NE boaters through satellite data. This project will corroborate data collected on different uses, visitor loads, and use patterns. Both studies' datasets will be compared to determine existing conditions. PRDNER would be the project’s primary partner, and the agency will facilitate the participation of other stakeholders and resource users of the NE area, as well as providing access to personnel and offices involved in vessel registration, commercial fishery licensing and reporting, and commercial operating permitting.

The project will address several pressing needs in the region, all of which will have direct implications for the management and conservation of vulnerable resources facing increasing use-based pressure. First, the project will characterize all uses, use patterns, user perceptions, and use conflicts, establishing a baseline against which future changes can be accurately measured. The characterization by itself will assist in determining how stakeholders engage with the various resources, and their views on resource conditions, use conflicts resulting from overcrowding, resource depletion, and time-area closures (ex., closed seasons, protected areas, etc.). Second, the pilot interviews project will gauge and quantify user views on existing and future management approaches, especially as these relate to the current and expected efficacy of management options. Stakeholders, who often greatly influence and impact management effectiveness, will provide their views on which resource management measures represent the best approach for improved conservation. Finally, by utilizing an LAC approach, the project will be able to establish constraining goals as these relate to preferred ecological conditions, use impacts, and user perceptions. These goals will contribute greatly in the future identification of management recommendations. Also, by collaborating with the satellite boater data collection project, 'Characterizing Human Use Impacts in the NE Reserves', the combined results will yield an accurate report of recreational and commercial uses in the NE region: visitor loads and activities, vessel boating patterns and locations over time, and user and stakeholder views on resource conditions and changes. The data from both projects will be compared with existing ecological data to allow a comparison between current biophysical conditions and desired conditions.

• Puerto Rico

• North East Reserves

Fishing

Closed

Completed

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/search/rest/find/document?searchText=projectNumber%3A31138%20OR%20projectTitle%3A"Limits%20of%20Acceptable%20Change%20Pilot%20Study%20in%20the%20NE%20Reserves%20and%20Culebra%20to%20support%20the%20development%20of%20management%20actions"&start=1&max=10&f=searchPage