Volume 58
By-catch Study of the Puerto Rico’s Marine Commercial Fisheries
Authors
Matos-Caraballo, D. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2005
Pages: 139-150
Event: Proceedings of the Fifty Eighth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: San Andres
Country: Colombia
Abstract
A “by-catch” study of Puerto Rico’s marine commercial fisheries” was conducted in Puerto Rico from February 2004-May 2005. This is the first by-catch study of Puerto Rico’s fishery. Non-commercial species, commercial species of small size, individuals with no market value (economic discards), and individual discarded due to illegal sizes (regulation discarded) were considered as by-catch. The by-catch data was obtained from common fishing gears as beach seines, trammel nets, fish traps, and hand lines. A total of 71 commercial fishing trips were interviewed to collect the by-catch data. Six trips of beach seine were interviewed, 27 trips for trammel nets, 13 trips for fish traps and 25 trips for hand lines. Biostatistics data was collected for most of the by catch caught. In Puerto Rico during 2003-05, a total of 10 shellfish species and 95 fish species were considered by catch. This paper reports a description of Puerto Rico’s by-catch species composition by gear and recommendations to decrease the by-catch capture.