Abstract

A characterization of the by-catch occurring in the shrimp fishery of the Chabihau lagoon is presented in terms of species composition and relative abundance. We undertook a study collecting data from the landing of the fishery between December 2002 and January 2003, keeping a record of catch data by haul. Species composition of the by-catch comprises 36 species of juvenile fishes from 21 families among them E. argenteus was the most abundant species (48.45%). Other species of high abundance were: A. mitchilli, H. jaguana, A. lineatus, E. gula, M. cephalus and S. foetens. Several juvenile species of crustacean were also present in the catches. Biometric functions were estimated for the most abundant species of fishes. Relationship between fork length-weight, and fork length-standard length were considered. The highest abundance of organism was observed by the end of the fishing season. Variation in the tide cycle appear to influence the presence of the organisms in the lagoon with significant differences between high and low tide (p < 0.01), such a way that at low tide larger catches were obtained (93% of the total). Lower proportion of by-catch was obtained by the end of the fishing season so that the Shrimp-By-catch relationship was lower of 14% of total catch. A proportion of 7 kg of shrimp to 1 kilogram of By-catch was obtained in general; this is equivalent to 88%:12% shrimp-by-Catch. There was no evidence of an increase of By-catch associated to an increase of shrimp catch.

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