The bony fishes (Teleostei) caught by industrial trawlers off the Brazilian North coast, with insights into its conservation

Abstract

The Brazilian North coast is one of the world’s most important shrimp fishery grounds, with a total area of approximately 223,000 km2. However, the available data on the diversity of fish caught by the region’s industrial trawler fleet are limited to the commercially-valuable species. This lacuna in the data on the region’s marine fish fauna is worrying, both for the management of stocks and the conservation of the local biodiversity. The present study was based on a comprehensive inventory of the teleost fishes captured by the industrial outrigger trawling operations off the North coast of Brazil. This inventory recorded 201 species belonging to 64 families and 20 orders, and revealed a unique fauna, characterized by 17 endemic species, and a mixture of estuarine-dependent and marine species, mainly associated with coral reefs. The Kernel density analysis indicated that the industrial trawling fleet operates within an important ecotone, which encompasses the transition zones of different fish communities found off the Brazilian North coast.

Sharks and batoids (Subclass Elasmobranchii) caught in the industrial fisheries off the Brazilian North coast

“…Industrial fisheries represent a significant economic activity in the region (IBAMA 2007). However, little is known about the fish diversity that are exploited (Marceniuk et al 2019). Approximatelly, 65%-90% of the species listed here are locally exploited as by-catch.…”

“…Species identification, for instance, guarantees reliable fishery data of commercially important species that are captured in direct or indirect fisheries (Bester-van der Merwe and Gledhill, 2015). Fisheries monitoring together with biological scientific surveys contribute to sampling of aquatic communities that are still poorly-known to science (Marceniuk et al 2019) such as elasmobranches. Understanding the local fish fauna also supports studies that reveal regional environmental conditions and assists the fisheries zoning for creating novel fishing grounds.…”

“…This region is embedded within a vast shrimp fishing ground that extends northwestwards to an area adjacent to Orinoco River mouth in Venezuela (IBAMA 1997). The study area comprised the second and third sectors where industrial fisheries based in Belém, Pará state are intensively operating within the continental shelf ( Figure 1) (Marceniuk et al 2019).…”

“…Genera and species-names for each family are given in alphabetical order. Species were also classified according to distribution area (Table 1F) and ecological habits, following Froese and Pauly 2019and Marceniuk et al (2019) (Table 1G).…”

Biometric relationships between body size and otolith size in 15 demersal marine fish species from the northern Brazilian coast

“…49(4) 2019: 299 -306 ACTA AMAZONICA 2018; Souza et al 2019). The high nutrient and sediment load from the Amazon River, near the Northern Coast of Brazil favors the occurrence of abundant fishery stocks, mainly shrimp (Penaeidae) and several fish species (Isaac and Braga 1999;Marceniuk et al 2019). The ichthyofauna is functionally important as an intermediate trophic level for many consumers, however, its importance is not well understood (Barletta et al 2010).…”