Contribution of the onboard observer program of the province of Chubut, Argentina, to the biodiversity knowledge throughout bycatch analysis

GÓNGORA MARÍA EVA; BOVCON NELSON DARIO; COCHIA PABLO DANIEL; SOUTRIC MATÍAS; MENDIA LUIS FERNANDO; CAILLE GUILLERMO MARTÍN

Viña del Mar

Workshop; 7th International Fisheries Observer and Monitoring Conference; 2013

Instituto de Fomento Pesquero

The bycatch control is a challenge for fisheries management and is particularly difficult in shrimp fisheries. InArgentina the Patagonian shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri) is a major export fishery, with highly variable landingsin the past 20 years (two peaks 80,000 t in 2001 and 2011). The fishery, which accounts for 95% of reportedshrimp landings, is carried out in a breeding area of hake (Merluccius hubbsi), where incidental capture isreaching 35,000 t/year, mainly juveniles. The bycatch control in the hake fisheries is the main challenge facingits management. However, a significant number of other species are also incidentally caught. This partialattention to bycatch of commercial species contrasts with the ecosystem approach to fisheries managementwhere sustainability of all caught species must be addressed. This paper describes the bycatch in the shrimpfishery in Patagonian waters of San Jorge Gulf and adjacent waters (between 43° and 47° South). Theinformation is collected by the Onboard Observer Program of the Province of Chubut (POBCh), which is headedby the Undersecretary of Fisheries of the province and has the technical support of the Faculty of NaturalSciences (FCN), Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco. Observers identify in each fishing haulthe harvested species at the lowest possible taxonomic level. For each taxon is recorded abundance in numberin five categories (dominant, abundant, common, rare and very rare) and destiny (entirely, partially or fullyencased and thrown into the sea). Training for species identification requires a major effort. This task wascarried out by the FCN, who implemented a permanent training program for almost ten years. Since 2003 thelist of recognized species has reached 117 (2 hagfish, 28 chondrichthyes, 59 teleost and 28 crustaceans), 4 arecategorized as ?endangered? and 4 as ?vulnerable?. The bycatch assessment allowed us to broadening theknowledge on biodiversity on the region, and expanded the knowledge on the distribution of 22 species. Inaddition, the collected samples gave rise to a ichthyological collection at FCN, which is now part of the?National Network of Biological Collections of Argentina?.