Coral Reefs support our Livelihood , our Culture
Bermuda's Commercial Finfish Fishery
42% of finfish sold commercially in Bermuda are caught on Bermuda's reef platform; the rest are caught outside of the platform on the Banks. This means that a substantial portion of the fish sold commercially depend on coral reefs for maintaining their stocks.
Reef‐associated catch for finfish ranges from 257,000 to 375,000 lbs., resulting in a value of 1.599 million USD to 2.477 million USD
Bermuda's Recreational Fishery
68% of the total catch for finfish in Bermuda is caught recreationally, or 387,000 pounds of reef fish, are caught annually by 16,000 recreational fishermen. This is an important aspect of Bermuda's culture, and a major component of the total fishery, amounting to half of the total weight of reef-dependent fish caught per year.
Total annual reef-associated fish catch per species group 2000-2007
Bermuda's Lobster Fishery
Lobsters are fished both commercially and recreationally in Bermuda. Both fisheries depend 100% on coral reefs, and all lobsters are caught on the Platform. Spiny lobsters, Panularis argus, are by far the most important lobster species caught in Bermuda, Total lobster catch ranged from 19,100 to 26,100 pounds between 2000 and 2007. This gives a gross value of 457,000 to 900,000 USD for those years.
Commercial Catch of Spiny Lobster in Bermuda