Conciliating artisanal and recreational fisheries in Anegada Bay, Argentina

Abstract

Recreational and artisanal fisheries are common activities in Latin America often interpreted as competitors due to the use of common-pool resources in coastal areas. Conflicts between the (historical) artisanal fisheries (AF) and recreational fisheries (RF) in Anegada Bay resulted in the prohibition of the former. This study addresses key fisheries characteristics to detect the degree of spatio-temporal overlap between them considering the annual dynamic of the coastal fish assemblage and proposed management alternatives. Both fisheries exerted different fishing effort coinciding with the dynamic of the fish assemblages but partial temporal and spatial overlap where apparent especially during one month. However, both fisheries focused their catches on different target species thus greatly reducing the overlap in resource use. Moreover, the low proportion of juveniles caught, limited fishing effort using selective bottom gillnets and scarce total harvest (168 tonnes/years) for AF compared with those of RF harvest (631 tonnes/years) in Anegada Bay poorly justifies the actual prohibition. However, the vulnerability index of AF landings resulted in higher values than the RF. To resolve conflicts, a co-management including AF, RF and industrial (trawl) stakeholders and non-fishing community is suggested. Because of the economic importance of fishing for local people, an efficient inter and intra-sector communications process and new fisheries guidelines are urgent for the equitable use of fisheries resources without compromising the goals of a protected area.

Application of otolith morphometry for the study of ontogenetic variations of Odontesthes argentinensis

“…This species is distributed along the southwest coast of the Atlantic Ocean, between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (22°S) and Rawson, Argentina (43°S) (Dyer 2000(Dyer , 2006Di Dario et al 2013). It is present in the diet of marine mammals and seabirds (Silva Rodríguez et al 2005;Tombari et al 2005) and is considered a significant economic resource for in local fisheries in southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina (De Buen 1953;Chao et al 1985;Sampaio 2006;Llompart et al 2013Llompart et al , 2017. In Argentina, O. argentinensis is exploited by recreational and artisanal fisheries along the coast of Buenos Aires province (Llompart et al 2012).…”

Alternative Conservation Paradigms and Ecological Knowledge of Small-Scale Artisanal Fishers in a Changing Marine Scenario in Argentina

“…However, we consider the modification of or shift from gillnets to eradicate overharvesting is not the best tool to stop the overexploitation of fishery resources. In Anegada Bay (North Patagonia, Argentina) the local government does now allow artisanal fisheries, even although recreational fisheries harvest almost six times more tonnes per year of juveniles due to their unselective gears (Llompart et al, 2017).…”

Historia ambiental de la reserva natural Bahía San Blas: entre el saqueo y la conservación

“…La pesca artesanal se desarrollaba así a baja escala, en temporadas acotadas a dos meses (entre mediados de octubre y diciembre de cada año) y mediante técnicas pasivas y altamente selectivas (Colautti et al, 2009). Los pescadores artesanales tenían un patrón diario, calaban las redes de enmalle de fondo por la tarde y las recogían temprano al día siguiente (Llompart, 2017). Este tipo de arte de pesca, a diferencia de las redes de arrastre, minimiza el impacto negativo sobre los organismos bentónicos y la estructura del fondo marino.…”

“…Con el transcurso del tiempo, las excelentes condiciones que ofrece este sitio para la pesca deportiva, lo posicionaron, a nivel nacional e internacional, como el "Paraíso de los Pescadores". A modo de referencia, es dable destacar que conteos realizados entre 2003-2007 arrojaron un valor medio de captura para el mes de diciembre de 1,8 peces por hora en el caso de la pesca de costa y una media de 6,8 peces por hora en el caso de la pesca embarcada (Llompart et al, 2017). Durante el periodo analizado comúnmente se organizaban también dos o tres torneos de pesca costera al año, altamente convocantes debido a la posibilidad de ganar premios de relevancia económica (importantes sumas de dinero, camionetas, entre otros) y reconocimiento social.…”