The Caribbean white sea urchin, L. variegatus, is locally harvested in Margarita Island and other locations of southeastern Venezuela. The recent reduction of densities raises concerns about potential impacts for overfishing. Densities of L. variegatus were estimated at Impact and Control locations between late-2012 and mid-2015 to 1) test temporal changes, comparing with 1997–1998 estimations, 2) the effect of seasonal closure on resource recovery and 3) the effect of local expansion. The results suggest that, after a period of fourteen years, an important decrease in L. variegatus densities occurred, as well as a lack of population recovery in fishing areas during seasonal closures. Furthermore, during the monitoring program, it was observed fishing activities in one Control location that subsequently showed clear patterns of population depletion, like other Impact locations. Fishing impact on L. variegatus populations is severe, persistent and expands over time without evidence of recovery, therefore it is expected that local populations of L. variegatus would collapse under current exploitation levels. However, due to the L. variegatus life history and its distribution range, recovery of impacted populations could be possible via recruitment of planktonic larvae if effective management actions are imposed. It is recommended to exercise more regulations on fishing activities and to execute management measures that allow recovering the stocks to maintain local populations of sea urchin.

加勒比白海胆L. variegatus是在玛格丽塔岛和委内瑞拉东南部的其他地区本地收获的。最近密度的降低引起了人们对过度捕捞的潜在影响的担忧。估计了2012年底至2015年中期之间的影响和控制地点的斑节紫苏的密度：1）测试时间变化，与1997-1998年的估计值相比； 2）季节性关闭对资源恢复的影响； 3）季节性关闭对资源恢复的影响。本地扩张。结果表明，经过一段时间的十四年来，在一个重要的下降之后L.粘多糖在季节性关闭期间，发生了密度大的变化，捕鱼区人口也没有恢复。此外，在监测计划期间，观察到在一个控制地点的捕鱼活动，随后显示出明显的人口枯竭模式，就像其他影响地点一样。捕捞对斑节紫苏种群的影响是严重的，持久的，并且随着时间的推移而扩大，没有恢复迹象，因此，预计在当前的开采水平下，斑节紫苏种群将崩溃。然而，由于L. variegatus生活史及其分布范围，如果采取有效的管理措施，可以通过招募浮游幼虫来恢复受影响的种群。建议对捕捞活动实行更多的法规，并执行管理措施以恢复种群，以维持当地海胆种群。