By-catch of sharks in Patagonian coastal trawl fisheries.

VAN DER MOLEN, SILVINA; CAILLE GUILLERMO,; GONZÁLEZ RAÚL,

MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 1998 vol. 49 p. 641 - 644

1323-1650

In coastal Patagonia, Argentina, an unknown number of species of sharks are frequently caught in bottom-trawl nets. Between 1993 and 1996, 454 trawls by Patagonian coastal fisheries (41º-51º S) were analyzed; 264 included sharks. If the seven species of sharks caught, the most frequent was the smoothhound Mustelus schmitti, mainly in Bahía Engaño (off Chubut). The argentine angelshark (Squatina argentina) and the tope (Galeorhinus galeus) were common in the north of Patagonia, the picked dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in the central zone, and the narrowmouthed catshark Shroederichthys bivius in the south. The broadnose sevengill shark (Notorhynchus cepedianus) was rarely caught. A single baskung shark (Cetorhinus maximus) was caught in San Matías Gulf (off Río Negro). Although undesirable, the by-catch of sharks is growing as a result of the increase in the fishing activities of the region, and the sustainability of the shark populations in Patagonian coasts is a matter of concern.