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

Abstract

The Brazilian North coastline comprises a total area of approximately 223,000 km2, representing one of the world’s most essential fishing grounds. Availability of data on the diversity of fishes caught in the industrial fishery trawlers in the region are usually limited to the commercially important and targeted species. Knowledge gaps on the related marine fish fauna are eminent, which hamper both fisheries and conservation efforts of the local biodiversity. A comprehensive taxonomic list of elasmobranch species captured off the North coast from Brazil through industrial trawl fishery is provided. Trawling operations acting regionally included pink-shrimp and several fish (outrigger trawling) and piramutaba catfish (pair trawlers). Sixty-eigth elasmobranch species belonging to 20 families and nine orders were recorded for this region, according to fish collection, fishery observer and literature data. Thirty-two are by-catch species caught in the local trawl operations, including endemic and rare species as well as four new records and one possible undescribed species of electric ray.

Intensive Commercialization of Endangered Sharks and Rays (Elasmobranchii) Along the Coastal Amazon as Revealed by DNA Barcode

“…The collections were carried out by incursions in 15-day intervals to the street market of Bragança, state of Pará, Brazil over a year (February 2017 to January 2018) to cover the species that are traded throughout time space. The elasmobranchs traded in the Bragança street market are caught, mainly, as bycatch, in fisheries of acoupa weakfish Cynoscion acoupa (Lacèpede, 1801), pink-shrimp Penaeus sp., piramutaba catfish Brachyplatystoma vaillantii (Valenciennes, 1840) and several fish (Mourão et al, 2018;Marceniuk et al, 2019). These fisheries are conducted on a small and large scale by different fishing systems operating in different areas of the northern Brazilian coast (Amapá, Pará, and Maranhão), using a wide variety of fishing gear (Braga et al, 2006;Espírito Santo and Isaac, 2012).…”

“…Both artisanal and industrial fishing practices to supply the demand of elasmobranch-derived products in regional markets take place regularly in several points along the northern coast of Brazil, where nearly 69 species of shark and rays are recognized, many of them classified as threatened (Feitosa et al, 2018;Marceniuk et al, 2019;Rodrigues-Filho et al, 2020). As a matter of fact, many species of threatened sharks and rays are commercialized in coastal Amazon region (Feitosa et al, 2018).…”

“…Fish landing occur daily in this municipality (Isaac et al, 2008) and most of products are sold in the street market of Bragança that encompasses indoor ("Mercado") and outdoor ("Feirinha") sites where a high diversity and number of species are commercialized (Freire et al, 2011;Martins et al, 2021). Over more than a decade, studies in this region have shown that Bragança lands and commercializes a large diversity of elasmobranchs with variation in the abundance and richness of sharks and rays species sold in the street market (Carmona et al, 2008;Rodrigues-Filho et al, 2009Guimarães-Costa et al, 2020;Feitosa et al, 2018;Marceniuk et al, 2019;Souza-Araujo et al, 2021). The elasmobranchs labeled as "cação" and "arraia" are among the most commercialized fish groups in this region but the lack of standard commercial common names and the mischaracterization of specimens constrain their morphological identification and justify the utilization of other methods based on molecular validation of species, like DNA barcode (Feitosa et al, 2018;Rodrigues-Filho et al, 2020;Martins et al, 2021).…”

From plentiful to critically endangered: Demographic evidence of the artisanal fisheries impact on the smalltail shark (Carcharhinus porosus) from Northern Brazil

“…Carcharhinus porosus catches decreased from a CPUE of 2.87 kg/hour in 1990 to 0.43 kg/hour in the early 2000s [21,26]. Regarding the shrimp trawl fisheries, no catch data at the species level exists, but sharks were considered to be frequently caught and corresponding to 35.1% of the bycatch, including C. porosus [27,31]. The only data with identification at the species level points out that C. porosus corresponded to roughly 1.5% of the catch in the shrimp trawl fisheries prospections in the early 2000s [28].…”

“…Regarding the shrimp trawl fisheries, no catch data at the species level exists, but sharks were considered to be frequently caught and corresponding to 35.1% of the bycatch, including C . porosus [ 27 , 31 ]. The only data with identification at the species level points out that C .…”