Spatio-temporal distribution and target species of longline fish eries off Southeastern/Southern Brazil between 2000 and 2011

Abstract

In the presente study, cluster analysis was performed to classify 1080 interviews with captains of national pelagic longline fleet (2000 to 2011), and 38 trips of the chartered fleet (2003 to 2008), in relation to the composition of species landed. For the national fleet 4 groups were identified: 1 - Albacores, 2 - Blue shark, 3 - Swordfish, and 4 - Dolphinfish. For the chartered fleet 3 groups were identified: 1 - Swordfish, 2 - Blue shark, and 3 - Albacores. The results indicated that part of the national fleet change their strategies according to the availability of the target species and market demand (internal and external). A part of the fleet from Espírito Santo state operates in the region between December and March, exclusively to capture dolphinfish. The chartered fleet differed from the national one as regards the fishing areas of each target species, mainly as regards swordfish and blue shark. Despite the great difference in the data sets, it is evident that both the national and the chartered fleets operated in accordance with their peculiarities and technological development, adopting strategies that optimize catches and net profits per trip.