Shark Depredation and Unwanted Bycatch in Pelagic Longline

Appendix 6
Peru Artisanal Mahimahi and Shark
Longline Fishery:
Industry Practices and Attitudes towards Shark Depredation and Bycatch
Jeff Mangel and Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, Pro Delphinus, prodelphinus@prodelphinus.org
Forty-two interviews with artisanal longline fishermen for mahi
mahi were conducted in three fishing ports in Peru from February
to May 2006. Of these, five interviews were with vessel owners who
had been actively fishing from 2 to 28 years. Sixteen respondents
were vessel captains and the remainder was crew. The average
number of years fishing by owners, captains and crew were 18.6,
9.7, 7.3, respectively. Information on the artisanal longline fishery
was obtained from Instituto del Mar del Peru (IMARPE) reports on
artisanal fisheries, from Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
publications that make reference to Peruvian fisheries, and from
the Fishstat computer program produced by FAO. Data on Peru’s
export market were obtained from PROMPEX Peru (government
commission for export promotion), and were downloaded from their
website (www.prompex.gob.pe).
The purpose of this study is to identify possible strategies to reduce
shark bycatch and depredation in pelagic longline fisheries.
This study was conducted during the mahi mahi season of the Peru
artisanal longline fishery, when sharks are taken as incidental catch.
During other seasons sharks are a primary target species.
it is the third largest in the Americas (Bonfil, 1996). Elasmobranch
landings in Peru have been dominated by smoothhounds (‘tollos’)
of the genus Mustelus, guitar rays Rhinobatos planiceps and angel
sharks Squatina spp. (Fig. A6.1, Table A6.1) (Bonfil, 1996; FAO 2006).
These species are caught mainly with gillnets (Reyes, 1993).
Since the mid to late 1980s the production of smoothhounds
and rays has declined. With the reintroduction and extension of
longline fishing for sharks in the 1990’s (Reyes, 1993), landings of
shark species, such as blues and makos, have increased (Estrella and
Guevara-Carrasco, 1998a and 1998b; Estrella et al., 1998, 1999a, 1999b
and 2000).
Shark fisheries in Peru are regulated by the Ministry of Fishery
through the establishment of minimum capture sizes for some
elasmobranch species (Diario Oficial El Peruano, 2001). Enforcement
of these regulations, however, has not been fully implemented and
awareness of these regulations among fishermen is still limited
(Alfaro and Mangel, 2005).
A6.1. Elamobranch Fishery
Chondrichthyans constitute an important fishery resource for
developing countries (Cattarci, 2004). With the shortage of traditional
bony fish landings, the need for a protein source and the increase
in the demand for shark fins, the take of sharks has expanded
significantly in the last few years (Bonfil, 1996; Cattarci, 2004). In
developing countries such landings have increased by 600.5% from
1950 to 2000 (Cattarci, 2004).
Peru is one of the world’s leading fishing nations and has been for
many years (Vanuccini, 1999). However, the elasmobranch fishery
represents a minor component of Peru’s total landings even though
Fig. A6.1. Total elasmobranch production in Peru, by species groups,
1950-2004 (data are taken from FAO 2006).
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