Jellyfish fisheries in the Americas: origin, state of the art, and perspectives on new fishing grounds

BROTZ, L.; ÁLVAREZ-TELLO, J.; QUIÑONES, J. A. D.; SCHIARITI, A.; PRECIADO, M.; HSIEH, P.; DONG, Z.; LAAZ, E,; LÓPEZ, J.; JONES, R. P.; MORANDINI, A. C.; MIANZAN H. W.

REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2016

0960-3166

Jellyfish(primarily scyphomedusae) fisheries have a long history in Asia, wherejellyfish have been caught and processed as food for centuries. More recently,jellyfish fisheries have expanded to the Western Hemisphere, often driven bydemand from Asian buyers and collapses of more traditional local fish stocks.Jellyfish fisheries have been attempted in numerous countries in North,Central, and South America, with varying degrees of success. Here, we chroniclethe arrival of jellyfish fisheries in the Americas and summarize relevantinformation on jellyfish fishing, processing, and management.  Processing technology for edible jellyfish hasnot advanced, and presents major concerns for environmental and human health.The development of alternative processing technologies would help to eliminatethese concerns and may open up new opportunities for markets and species. Wealso examine the biodiversity of jellyfish species that are targeted forfisheries in the Americas. Establishment of new jellyfish fisheries appearspossible, but requires a specific combination of factors including high abundancesof particular species, processing knowledge dictated by the target market, andeither inexpensive labor or industrialized processing facilities. More oftenthan not, these factors are not altogether evaluated prior to attempting a newjellyfish fishery. As such, jellyfish fisheries are currently expanding muchmore rapidly than research on the subject, thereby putting ecosystems andstakeholders? livelihoods at risk.