CPUE e sazonalidade do agulhão-vela, Istiophorus platypterus, baseado em dados pesqueiros artesanais da enseada do Mucuripe, Fortaleza, Ceará.

Abstract

The sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus (Istiophoridae), is a pelagic, migratory, voracious and carnivorous species. This species is distributed in tropical marine environments of all the oceans. It is caught by fishing in the southwest Atlantic, including the region off the coast of Ceará. The Agulhão-vela has a considerable commercial value. Despite this, basic aspects of its biology in the region are still unknown, such as abundance and period of occurrence in the Ceará platform. In addition, there is no fishery statistics data on catches of this species in Ceará. Given this lack of knowledge, the present study aimed to describe the following biological aspects of sailfish caught by artisanal fisheries carried out by the fishing fleet that has a port in the Mucuripe cove, Fortaleza-CE: (1) characterize the population as to its length; (2) determine the average number of individuals landed; (3) to verify the existence of seasonality in catches for the region; (4) test whether there is a relationship between catch abundance and rainfall. Between August 2004 and July 2008, the number of sailfishes landed daily in the Mucuripe cove was recorded. In total, 724 individuals were enrolled. It has been estimated that the fleet will capture at least about 180 individuals / year. In addition to the number of individuals, data from the Lower Jaw-Fork Length (LJFL) of individuals were also taken in the first year of observation, and these values were converted to total length (CT). From this, it was possible to estimate that the total length of the individuals landed (N = 107) varied between 189 and 280 cm. Hence, it can be inferred that fishing primarily affects adult individuals. The CPUE of Agulhão-vela varies seasonally in the region, with higher value in the last quarter of the year, period of less precipitation. Thus, the occurrence of catches varies inversely with rainfall in the region. The knowledge of this seasonal pattern of catches is key to the elaboration of a fishery management plan, aiming at a rational use of this resource. The information obtained in the present study can serve as a basis for contemporary studies on the status of fishing and species dynamics in the region.