Landing data are the most basic information used to manage fisheries, although they are often unavailable or incomplete. The objective of this work was to reconstruct the national database of marine commercial landings for the Brazilian industrial and artisanal fisheries, from 1950 to 2015. Total landings increased strongly from 1950 to mid-1980s and suffered sharp decline in the early 1990s, mainly associated to the collapse of sardine fisheries. After that, another period of increasing landings was observed, but at a much lower rate. Industrial landings always surpassed artisanal landings in Brazilian waters, except for the beginning of the time series, when many industrial fleets had not started yet, and in the early 2000s, when a change in the methodology for collecting landing statistics was implemented in the state of Pará leading to an overestimation of artisanal landings. Artisanal fisheries have been declining since 2005, which is worrisome due to the social impact it may have on local income and food security. Regional differences were also observed, with industrial landings being always higher than artisanal landings in southeastern-southern Brazil, while the opposite was true for the northern-northeastern regions. Higher landings were observed in the southeastern-southern regions when both artisanal and industrial fleets were combined. Sardine and demersal fishes were the main resources landed by industrial fishers. Artisanal fishers caught more species than their industrial counterpart, featuring Xiphopenaeus kroyeri, Cynoscion acoupa, and Ucides cordatus. Although the fishing of Epinephelus itajara was banned in Brazil, it continues to be landed. Yet, catches of this species and others under some threat status are still not properly registered, including: Carcharhinus longimanus, Galeorhinus galeus, Sphyrna lewini, Sphyrna mokarran, Pristis pectinata, and Pseudobatos horkelii. Fishing resources not identified in previous landing reconstruction efforts, such as sea urchins and sea cucumbers, have now been reported. The database presented here should be continuously updated and improved. It is of paramount importance to resume the collection of landing statistics, including information on fishing effort, to assess the relative impact of fisheries and environmental factors on the main Brazilian fishing stocks.

This study aimed to characterize the trophic structure of the fish assemblage in streams of the Serra Japi, an ecotonal area between the Atlantic Forest and inland forests of São Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil. Fish were collected with electrofishing equipment in 15 sites covering different regions, substrate types and riparian vegetation, distributed throughout the Caguaçú River, Caxambú, Piraí and Guapeva River micro-basins, during the rainy (January/February) and dry season (June) of 2007. The 589 specimens analyzed from 22 species, were assigned to different trophic groups, discriminated through a matrix of similarity, based on the food index (IA i ). The results show the formation of seven groups with a predominance of insectivorous and omnivorous species, followed by detritivores, piscivores, omnivore-carnivores and herbivores, which consumed mostly items of autochthonous origin, where algae and young insects were dominant. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), correlating the biomass of trophic groups to environmental variables, showed that omnivores, insectivores and omnivorecarnivores displayed a wide distribution, while detritivores, herbivores and piscivores were restricted to specific locations, related to different physical and chemical variables as total nitrogen, conductivity and temperature. Despite the increase in total biomass at the most urbanized sites, the results indicate that the streams maintain a diverse community, suggesting that most of them are in preserved conditions. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar a estrutura trófica da comunidade de peixes de riachos da Serra do Japi, uma área de transição entre a Mata Atlântica e o interior paulista, no sudeste brasileiro. Os peixes foram coletados com equipamento de pesca elétrica em 15 pontos localizados em regiões com diferentes tipos de substrato e vegetação ripária, distribuídos pelas microbacias do Ribeirão Caguaçú, Caxambú, Piraí e Rio Guapeva, durante as estações chuvosa (janeiro/fevereiro) e seca (junho) de 2007. Os 589 indivíduos analisados, pertencentes a 22 espécies, foram classificados em diferentes grupos tróficos, discriminados através de uma matriz de similaridade baseada no Índice Alimentar (IA i ). Os resultados mostraram a formação de sete grupos com predomínio de espécies insetívoras e onívoras, seguidas pelas detritívoras, piscívoras, onívoro-carnívoras e herbívoras, que consumiram principalmente itens de origem autóctone com predomínio de algas e formas imaturas de insetos aquáticos. A Análise de Correspondência Canônica, ao correlacionar a biomassa dos grupos tróficos às variáveis ambientais, mostrou que as espécies onívoras, insetívoras e onívoro-carnívoras apresentaram ampla distribuição, enquanto que as detritívoras, herbívoras e piscívoras estiveram restritas a determinados locais, relacionados a diferentes variáveis físicas e químicas tais como nitrogênio total, condutividade e temperatura. Embora o aumento da biomassa de alguns grupos tróficos tenha sido verificado nos locais com maior influênc...

The age and growth of the snowy grouper, Epinephelus niveatus, from central and south-eastern Brazil were studied by otolith analysis from a sample of 341 specimens, ranging from 325 to 1216 mm in total length (TL) caught with bottom longlines between 1996 and 1998. Otolith length grew proportionally with the increasing TL of the fish. Marginal increment analysis indicated that a single opaque band forms each year during autumn–winter. The maximum estimated age was 54 years, which significantly extends the previously estimated life-span of 21–29 years for this species. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters for both sexes were estimated as L∞ = 1098.4 mm TL, K = 0.062 year −1 and t0 = –2.68. The study revealed differences in mean length-at-age and size at recruitment, as well as in growth parameters between the central and the south-eastern Brazilian coast, which can be attributed mainly to different fishing pressures. The snowy grouper was found at depths of 82–492 m, and showed a positive relationship between age and depth, suggesting differential movements of older fish to deeper waters.

ABSTRACT. In 2008, the government of the São Paulo State, Brazil, established marine protected areas (MPAs) along its entire coast. Pair trawling was banned from most of these areas ever since. This study investigated how these MPAs influenced on pair trawling fleet's operational patterns and landings from 2005 to 2012 as well as on the other fleets dynamics. Landings of pair trawlers per unit effort remained stable, however, they had to look for farther fishing grounds and capture deeper and less profitable species, changing their landing composition and reducing income. Gillnet fleet, particularly, has intensified fishing in MPAs and showed an increase in catches of some species that was once targeted by pair trawlers. In this case, MPAs management acted more towards a territorial management, protecting artisanal fisheries, than in the protection of fisheries resources. Keywords: industrial fisheries, marine spatial planning, ecosystem approach to fisheries management, fishery socio-economics, southwest Atlantic Ocean. Efecto de las áreas marinas protegidas en las pesquerías: el caso delEstado de São Paulo, Brazil RESUMEN. En 2008, el gobierno del Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, estableció áreas marinas protegidas (AMPs) en toda su costa. Desde entonces se prohibió la pesca de arrastre en pareja en la mayoría de estas áreas. Este estudio investigó como las AMPs influenciaron los patrones operativos y de desembarque entre 2005 y 2012, así como también otras dinámicas de la flota de arrastre en pareja. Los desembarques de buques de arrastre en pareja por unidad de esfuerzo se mantuvieron estables; sin embargo, tuvieron que buscar áreas de pesca más lejanas y capturar especies de mayor profundidad y menos rentables, lo que cambió la composición del desembarque y redujo los ingresos. En particular, la pesca con red de enmalle ha intensificado sus actividades en las AMPs, mostrando un aumento en la captura de ciertas especies que anteriormente fueron el objetivo de buques de arrastre en pareja. En este caso, la gestión de las AMPs se orientó hacia un manejo del territorio, protegiendo la pesca artesanal, más que hacia la protección de los recursos pesqueros. Palabras clave: pesca industrial, planificación espacial marina, enfoque ecosistémico del manejo pesquero, socio-economía pesquera, Océano Atlántico Suroccidental.

The Acoupa weakfish Cynoscion acoupa (Lacepède, 1801) is a large inshore sciaenid of commercial and social importance found along the entire Brazilian coast. In spite of this, there is few information on the species, both in terms of biological aspects and fishery yields, particularly off southeastern Brazil. Within this context, this study aimed to an evaluation of Acoupa weakfish fishery production off São Paulo coast (23°22'-25°18'S) based on publicly available statistical data collected between 1998 and 2016. Acoupa weakfish fishery in this State takes place on both industrial and artisanal scales, and employs at least 22 different fishing gears. The pair-trawling fishery was the most important Acoupa weakfish producer during the period surveyed, with a sharp decline in the catches from 2007 onward due to the establishment of Marine Protected Areas off São Paulo coast, which banned trawling in depths shallower than 26 meters. Acoupa weakfish yields were relatively low in São Paulo when compared with other demersal fishes exploited, despite the high retail prices commanded by the species in regional markets and restaurants.

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Generalized linear models were applied to identify factors affecting the capture rates (catch per unit effort, cpue) of Xiphopenaeus kroyeri and to estimate time-series data with standardized abundance indices. The adjusted models revealed that the most powerful vessels (with greater HP) were up to 3.5 times more efficient than vessels with less powerful engines. The seasonal variation of the resource changed from year to year, most likely due to variations in the recruitment season and the timing of temporary fishing bans. The variation of cpue was similar between the northern and southern sectors of the study area. In these, X. kroyeri abundances increased in the years 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2002, while in the central sector, the cpue fluctuated with a period duration of approximately two years. During the period, the relative abundance of the species displayed neither a decreasing nor an increasing trend, indicating that this has been harvested at stable levels. However, X. kroyeri stock was reduced by overfishing during the 1980s and exhibits variations in abundance that may occur in response to environmental fluctuations; thus, the harvesting of this species should be managed with extreme caution.

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