Prospecção do estoque de robalo-peva (Centropomus parallelus) no litoral do Paraná, através da pesca esportiva

Abstract

The snooks are fishes very appreciated food item by fish consumers and recreational fishermen, for they are endowed with a high quality flesh and put up a fierce fight when captured with line-and-hook. Such characteristics make this taxon a target for a host of users, objectives and needs (commercial and recreational fishing) which, together with loss of habitat space (mangroves), attest to its fragility. Over the recent years, a catch reduction of the fat snook, Centropomus parallelus, has been implied by recreational and artisanal fishermen of Paraná State. For lack of fishery statistics that would enable the investigation of this telltale resource depletion, the present research work endeavored to carry out a preliminary stock assessment based on the survey of recreational fishing tournaments and on the study of that species’ growth. The database was gathered by controlling the catches of nine of the mentioned tournaments, having C. parallelus and Centropomus undecimalis as target species, organized by the Paraná State Recreational Fishing League (LPPE), from November, 2005 to September, 2007 in the estuaries of Paranaguá Bay and Guaratuba Bay (25o441S – 48o22’W). A total of 3,290 specimens of C. parallelus were sampled for their total length ranging from 10.0 to 69.0 cm and of 158 specimens of C.undecimalis in the range of 14,0 – 68,0 cm. The strong specific dominance of over 95% justified the emphasis of this investigation on the fat snook. The weight-length relationship showed an isometric somatic development for the two species. The mean catch per unit effort (CPUE) was estimated as 0.977 individuals per hour and 0,328 kg per hour. For the growth studies, only 159 specimens were submitted to the extraction of sagittae otoliths, while all the others were released according to the catch-and-release rules required by the LPPE. Based on the analysis of otoliths’s microstructure, the von Bertallnafy growth parameters were estimated by means of different backcalculation methods (Fraser-Lee, linear BPH, linear SPH, and potential BPH and SPH) and fiting of the growth curve (Ford-Walford and electronic routine). The most adequate growth parameters in the species’ population dynamics were K = 0.13, L¥ = 79.0 cm and t0 = 0. The ELEFAN I technique has borne out the estimates arrived at through the length-at-age analysis. The longevity and the natural mortality coefficient were estimated as 23 years and 0.33, respectively. The average values of optimum catch length and age correspond to Lopt = 43.0 cm and topt = 6 years. About 95% of the maximum biomass were found to occur in the range from 38.0 cm (5 years) to 47.0 cm (7 years). The preliminary stock assessment of C. parallelus on the Paraná State coast, carried out by means of length composition analysis and age structure of the stock reported by recreational fishing tournaments, indicated the occurrence of growth overfishing, that is, large numbers of juveniles and few adult (>35.0 cm) specimens are captured, what characterizes an age-related unbalanced population