Fishery analysis on bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, off the Brazilian Southeast-Southern coast (1977-1995)

Authors

  • Lúcio Fagundes Engenheiro Agrônomo, Mestre, Pesquisador Científico do Instituto de Pesca – SAA - SP.
  • Carlos Alberto Arfelli Engenheiro Agrônomo, Doutor, Pesquisador Científico do Instituto de Pesca – SAA - SP.
  • Alberto Ferreira de Amorim Engenheiro Agrônomo, Doutor, Pesquisador Científico do Instituto de Pesca – SAA - SP.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32360/acmar.v33i1-2.11802

Keywords:

Thunnus obesus, longliner fleet, fisheries biology, Brazilian Southeast-Southern coast.

Abstract

Biological and fishing data of bigeye, Thunnus obesus (Lowe, 1939), caught by longliners based Santos, São Paulo State, Brazil and operating off the Brazilian Southeast-Southern coast from 1977 to 1995 were analyzed. It was verified a decrease on the capture of this species due to technological aspects and the interest in other species. The monofilament longline, in use since 1994, proved to be more efficient than the traditional longline. Young fish were caught mainly in the first half of year. A high frequency of individuals smaller than 80 cm was observed in January and February. The highest catches happened from April to September, period in which the adults prevail. There was a reduction in the medium weight (about 50%) of the fishe captured in the period 1969-95. In spite of that decrease, the medium weight of the specimens captured by the longliner fleet settled in Santos was slightly higher than the one observed in the 1990‘s for the oriental longliner fleets operating in the Atlantic.

Published

2017-05-05

Issue

Section

Artigos originais