. 5 cm (from Williams 1965) Common Name: spiny lobster Scientific Name: Panulirus argus Other Common Names: crawfish, Florida spiny lob- ster, western Atlantic spiny lobster, Caribbean spiny lobster, rock lobster, bug, langouste blanche (French), langosta comun (Spanish) (Fischer 1978, NOAA1985, Williams et al. 1989). Classification (Williams et al. 1989) Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Crustacea Order: Decapoda Family: Palinuridae Value Commercial: Spiny lobster are typically marketed as tails either fresh or frozen (Fischer 1978). land- ings in 1992 were 2, mt valued at $ million (NM
. 5 cm (from Williams 1965) Common Name: spiny lobster Scientific Name: Panulirus argus Other Common Names: crawfish, Florida spiny lob- ster, western Atlantic spiny lobster, Caribbean spiny lobster, rock lobster, bug, langouste blanche (French), langosta comun (Spanish) (Fischer 1978, NOAA1985, Williams et al. 1989). Classification (Williams et al. 1989) Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Crustacea Order: Decapoda Family: Palinuridae Value Commercial: Spiny lobster are typically marketed as tails either fresh or frozen (Fischer 1978). land- ings in 1992 were 2, mt valued at $ million (NMFS 1993). Florida, with landings of 1, mt valued at million, accounted for 81% of the total catch and 73% of the value. In 1992, all reported Gulf landings were from the west coast of Florida (Newlin 1993), mostly from the Florida Keys in Monroe County (Lyons pers. comm.). Reported landings for Florida's 1995-96 fishing season were considerably higher at 3,186 mt (Matthews pers. comm.). Fishermen use top- entry wood-slat traps and juvenile lobsters to attract adults into the trap (Lyons 1986, Marx and Herrnkind 1986). A few are harvested by divers and as incidental catch by shrimp trawlers (Hunt 1994). Florida issues a special permit required for the commercial harvest of this species (GMFMC 1987). Spiny lobster is a valu- able commercial species and supports Florida's sec- ond most valuable shellfishery (Schomer and Drew 1982, Marx and Herrnkind 1986). In Florida state waters, lobsters must measure at least three inches (76 mm) carapace length (CL) and tails must be at least 140 mm in length to be legal for harvest (Hunt pers. comm.). Florida has maintained a closed harvest season since 1919 (Lyons 1986). Dates forthe closure have changed several times, but have always occurred during the spring-summer spawning season. Similar regulations apply in offshore federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico as well (GMFMC 1996a). The fishery ap- pears to be fully exploited in the U
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