Abstract

A small-scale longline fishery began in Grenada in the early 1980's with assistance from Cuba. 1t has now become the main fishery on the west coast of the island involving approximately 320 fishermen who operate from about 110 pirogue longliners (6.0 to 8.8 m long) and from seven short-stay longliners (10.9 m long). In 1991/92, the fishery accounted for about 466 mt (28%) of the island's total annual fish catch, and was valued at around US$ 1 million wholesale. The average catch per pirogue longline trip was 141 kg with a wholesale value of about US$ 304. The longline fleet operates from the west (leeward) side of the island up to a distance of 40 km from shore, fishing on a daily basis, leaving the shore around 8.30 am and returning between 8.00 pm and midnight. The fishery is presently constrained during the summer months (July to September) by the lack of fresh flyingfish bait. ; The main species taken by the longline gear are yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) and blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) which account for 63%, 23% and 5% respectively of the catch taken on a pirogue longline fishing trip. The species composition of the catch has changed over the fishing years 1983/84 to 1992/93, with development of the fishery and small changes in the fishing gear and fishing techniques. Yellowfin tuna shows bimodal seasonality in abundance with a major peak from March to May and a minor peak in October, while Atlantic sailfish and blue marlin appear to have unimodal seasonality with peak abundance from December to June and from November to June respectively. ; Recent developments in this fishery have been the addition of eight Government-owned longliners to the fleet and an increase in fish exports. In 1992, 98 mt of yellowfin tuna were exported at a value of US$ 467,350. Future plans for this fishery focus on establishing a fish processing plant with assistance from Japan.

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