A review on the fish stock identification and environmental biology of fishes in Latin America reveled to otolith microchemistry: history, present and perspectives

AVIGLIANO, ESTEBAN; A.V. VOLPEDO.

Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture

Taylor and Francis

Lugar: Conneticut; Año: 2016 vol. 24 p. 369 - 384

In developed countries,otolith microchemistry has been used for more than three decades for studiesenvironmental ecology of fishes. Although Latin America produces 16% of theannual fish capture, most of their fishery resources have not been well studiedand handled. Modern methodologies related to microchemistry havenot been applicable to the underdeveloped countries of Latin America due to itshigh cost. However, in the last decade there have been several studies on LatinAmerican resources, carried out mainly by first-world countries. Currently,some regional economies are strong and stable enough to ensure the training ofspecialized human resources and generate opportunities for the exchange ofprojects and acquisition of state-of-the-art technology. In this work, allavailable literature related to Latin American resources in relation to the useof otolith microchemistry has been revised. Use of different methodologies inthe region in relation to global trends has been discussed. The extent of collaborationbetween underdeveloped and developed countries has been evaluated. This reviewshows a promising future in the application of otolith microchemistry to studybiology of fishes, which will impact on the medium and long term to ensure thesustainability of certain resources and therefore, the strengthening ofregional economies.