Interaction of sea turtle and Brazilian fisheries: a literature review

Abstract

Fishing in Brazil is highly diversified, encompassing small-scale fishery communities along the coast, as well as industrial fleets. Of the seven species of sea turtles around the world, five are found in Brazil and all interact with fishing. Research and conservation efforts to mitigate bycatch of sea turtles have been carried out, being considered a priority for research, management and conservation. In order to understand how the research has dealt with the question of the interaction of sea turtles with fishing in Brazil, in the present study we carry out a review of the literature aiming to identify the advances and gaps of the knowledge on the subject in Brazil. A growing literature has been identified since the 1960s, with a more significant increase since the 2000s. Despite the increase in research, we have observed a predominance of the literature on interaction with industrial fishing, especially pelagic longline, to the detriment of small-scale fisheries, which still lacks studies, mainly in the north and northeast coast. Still, it is necessary a better dimensioning of the mortality caused by the capture in the fishery and its impact on the populations, as well as in the expansion of the conservation strategies.