Copyright (c) 2023 Revista de Investigación Agraria y Ambiental
Catch per unit of effort (CPUE) variation and sustainability of artisanal fishing in relation to environmental variables in Colombian Pacific
Contextualization: artisanal fishing in the Colombian Pacific is positioned as one of the main sources of income for the communities settled on the coasts, therefore, there is strong pressure on fishing resources, with non-selective fishing gear such as the trammel netting and the hand linehook, capturing individuals that have not presented reproductive events and belonging to incidental catches and discards. Knowledge gap: in the Colombian Pacific the spatio temporal relationships have not been explored between the target catch and discard according to the environmental variables. Purpose: Evaluate the spatio temporal dynamics of catch per unit of effort and the sustainability of artisanal fishing associated with environmental variables in Tumaco Bay, Colombian Pacific. Methodology: four samplings were conducted throughout the year 2020 and 2021, two in the dry season and two in the rainy season with the trammel and hand hook line fishing gears, in the internal and external zone of the Tumaco bay. Samples of physical-chemical variables were carried out. Results and conclusions: Within the target catch, the families Ariidae and Sciaenidae were the most representative, Pristigasteridae and Gerreidae in the bycatch and Engraulidae, Cynoglosidae in the discard. In hand hook line, 94.60% was target catch, 3.90% bycatch and 1.48% belonged to discard, while in trammel netting, 49.07% was discard, 41.78% was target catch and 9.15% was bycatch. The trammel net caught smaller individuals (17.49 ± 4.26 cm), which may indicate that it is a little selective gear as it does not respect the minimum catch sizes. The total catch per unit of effort was higher with the hand hook fishing gear (8.84 ± 5.42 kg h-1). The variables salinity, total dissolved solids and transparency presented a negative correlation with the total catch per unit of effort in the trammel net, while with the hook they presented a positive association. It is recommended to regulate the use of trammel nets in the internal area and in the rainy season due to with this fishing gear captures juvenile commercial species that are discarded.
Copyright (c) 2023 Revista de Investigación Agraria y Ambiental
