Collaborative assessment of recreational fishing in a subtropical estuarine system: a case study with fishing guides from south‐eastern Brazil

Abstract

Knowledge of recreational fisheries in Brazil is scarce and remains a critical issue to determine management actions. By adopting a collaborative approach that involved fishing guides, recreational fishing from the Iguape and Canan eia Lagoon Estuarine System (south-eastern Brazil) was assessed. During the study period (from April 2009 to March 2010), 341 fishing operations (boat day À1 ) were monitored. A total of 10 051 fish specimens of 26 families and at least 51 species were examined. The fat snook, Centropomus parallelus Poey, was the most commonly caught species representing 51% of the fish caught. Annual fishing effort was estimated at 272 859 anglerhours, and the mean catch-per-unit-effort was 3.42 fish boat À1 h À1 . Size structure of targeted species suggests that the populations are overexploited. The approach used in the study reinforces the importance of engaging different stakeholders in science and management and improving the communication among them. K E Y W O R D S : anglers, engagement, management, marine conservation, recreational fishing, stakeholders.

Reproductive biology of the tarpon snook Centropomus pectinatus (Perciformes, Centropomidae) in estuarine waters in the south‐western Atlantic

“…Twelve Centropomus Lacépède 1802 species, known as snooks or robalos, occur in tropical and subtropical coastal waters of the west Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Nelson et al ., ). All are valuable game fishes and the target of artisanal and recreational fisheries (Lowerre‐Barbieri et al ., ; Ley & Allen, ; Motta et al ., ). The tarpon snook Centropomus pectinatus Poey 1860 inhabits coastal waters, estuaries and rivers from Florida (Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts) to south‐eastern Brazil (Giarrizzo et al ., ).…”

Using the same fish with different rules: A science‐based approach for improving management of recreational fisheries in a biodiversity hotspot of the Western South Atlantic

“…According to these data, the effort of recreational fisheries in the LEC for the period of January 2009–March 2010 was 272,900 angler‐hr (Motta et al., ). Additionally, an analysis of the population structure in length of the main species caught by anglers indicated a scenario of overexploitation, with recreational fishing capturing around 80% of the total production of the estuarine fisheries for C. parallelus and C. undecimalis , compared with the artisanal fishery for the same species, fishing area and period (Motta et al., ). Although these data may underestimate the total production of artisanal fisheries in the study area, as the monitoring of this activity by the fishery agency of São Paulo is not able to cover the entire length of a such large territory, recreational fisheries contribute significantly to the capture of fish in the LEC, especially when focusing on species of the genus Centropomus .…”

“…As recreational fisheries have grown rapidly in developing countries such as Brazil, recent discussions have highlighted the importance of improving monitoring and assessment frameworks in data‐poor situations (Arlinghaus et al., ; FAO ), due to the impacts shared with commercial fisheries (Arlinghaus & Cooke, ; Coleman, Figueira, Ueland & Crowder, ; Cooke & Cowx, , ; Motta et al., ). Thus, in this study, the hypothesis that a species highly targeted by anglers, C. parallelus , moves between two densely populated areas close to the coast, where the fishing tourism is an important activity but the rules for recreational fisheries are different among states/provinces was tested.…”

“…These authors suggested that juvenile C. parallelus could occupy and migrate between different salinity habitats within the Paranaguá estuarine complex, in southern Brazil, which makes the species particularly vulnerable to fisheries. This vulnerability was shown by Motta, Mendonça and Moro (2016), which alerted the high pressure exerted by estuarine fisheries, mainly by anglers, on C. parallelus and its congeners in areas adjacent to the Paranaguá estuarine complex, in southeastern Brazil.…”

Lambari fish Deuterodon iguape as an alternative to live bait for estuarine recreational fishing

“…The decline in shrimp stocks has been reported by artisanal fishers on the south‐eastern coast of Brazil for various reasons: devastation of nursery areas, large amounts of litter in the estuary, overexploitation of adults by industrial fishing and significant numbers of juvenile shrimp fishers operating during the harvest period (Barros, Barreto et al., ). Some artisanal fishers interviewed stated that, in the time of greater abundance of white shrimp juveniles (December to February), the number of collectors working in an estuary reaches 200 boats per day (Motta, Mendonça & Moro, ). In this sense, long‐term strategic sampling programmes are required to provide catch and effort data for the effective evaluation of recreational fishing management (Gray & Kennelly, ).…”