Pink-shrimp industrial fishery and its by-catch off Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil (1993 – 1997)

Abstract

The pink-shrimp fisheries in Southeast/South Brazil occur from the mouth of Doce River (Espírito Santo State) to the estuary of Patos Lagoon (Rio Grande do Sul State), reaching the species Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis (Latreille, 1817) and Farfantepenaeus paulensis (Pérez Farfante, 1967), caught together and living on same fishing grounds. In this paper we deal with the pink-shrimp industrial fisheries and its by-catch at Rio de Janeiro State (1993 – 1997), based on fishing log-books of shrimp-trawlers. The pink-shrimp catches decreased from 1994, the same not occurring with the by-catch landings; the annual mean catches were 162.7 t for pink-shrimp and 2,444.2 t for by-catch. For each pinkshrimp ton caught were landed 15.0 t of by-catch; its landings increases when the pink-shrimp production decreases. Pink-shrimp catches are concentrated in June – October, reaching 74.6% of the annual production. In the weight composition of by-catch landings, 0.8% corresponded to crustaceans, 8.3% to molluscs, and 90.9% to fishes. The yearly mean productivity of pink-shrimp fisheries were 25 kg/day = 7 kg/haul = 2 kg/hour; for by-catch, 396 kg/day = 108 kg/haul = 26 kg/hour. The downward trend of pink-shrimp relative abundance is quite evident since 1994.