‘Miunça’ and ‘pescadinha’ landed as bycatch from shrimp fisheries in northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The present study aimed at identifying fish species from the bycatch constituting the categories 'miunça' and 'pescadinha' landed by the shrimp fleet in the state of Sergipe, comparing with information from statistical bulletins, and assessing the occurrence of seasonal changes in this species composition. Samples were obtained each month directly from the shrimp boats fishing along the coast of Sergipe, when their catch was landed between August 2018 and July 2019. All fishes were identified, measured (total length; cm), and weighed (total weight; g). A total of 60 kg of fishes was analyzed, encompassing 1412 individuals of 35 species, belonging to 16 families. Sciaenidae, Polynemidae, and Haemulidae were the most representative families. The most abundant species in 'miunça' were Polydactylus virginicus, Larimus breviceps, Paralonchurus brasiliensis, and Stellifer brasiliensis. In 'pescadinha', the species with the highest number were P. virginicus, L. breviceps, and Conodon nobilis. About 70% of all species were observed in both categories, with individuals from 'pescadinha' being larger than 'miunça', but the magnitude of this difference changed in different months. Only eight species analyzed here were individually reported in bulletins of fishery statistics for Sergipe, representing 56.7% of the total sampled biomass, and other 15 were reported in groups including two or more species.