Abstract

Integral fisheries management require to consider spatial and temporal dimension of resources dynamics and fleet operation owing; since the latter modify its gears, strategies and target resources as a response to ecological and socio-economic conditions. With the purpose of exploring variations of catches in the region, the spatial distribution of catches recorded in the upwelling area off the Colombian Caribbean Sea, during 1994 and 2000, was analyzed through a Geographic Information System. Considering the multispecies nature of the small-scale fisheries, six functional groups of fishes were defined based on two ecological characteristics: habitat (pelagic or demersal) and individual size (small, medium and big). The results showed that the main variations in the catch per fishing trip between the examined years were recorded in beach seine, decreasing from 91.1 to 37.5 kg in medium pelagic, from 39.5 to 1.2 kg in small pelagic, and from 43.2 to 7.3 kg in large demersals; in gillnet, increasing from 4.8 to 33.9 kg in large pelagics, and from 4.3 to 13.7 kg in medium pelagics; in tramps, increasing from 1.2 to 22.8 kg in medium demersals. Results show that fishing activity have moved away the coast, decreasing the catches’ rates of shore gears, involving higher economic inversions and spending more time. This kind of analysis contributes to recognize the catch composition and dynamics in local small-scale fisheries, as required input for spatial-explicit management strategies.

PDF Preview