Abstract
The population of the South American sea lion, Otaria flavescens (Shaw, 1800), in Uruguay is declining at an annual rate of 1.6 to 2.0%. Although the reasons are still unknown, interactions with fishing activities have been identified as a major cause. The individuals that arrive along the coast of Brazil come from the breeding colonies off Uruguay after their breeding period. We report here the first record of incidental catch of South American sea lions in Brazilian waters by a pair trawl. On July 17th, 2008 a young male of South American sea lion was incidentally caught during a commercial pair trawl fishing trip along the southern Brazilian coast (32o57’S, 52o31’W), in a depth ranging from 15 to 20 m. Despite being punctual, this record is an evidence of a potential major threat to South American sea lions in southern Brazil and Uruguay, since trawl industrial fishing is a very important economic activity in South Brazil. Keywords: Pinnipeds, Otaria flavescens , human impact, human-carnivore conflicts, fishery interactions.
Highlights
A população do leão-marinho-sul-americano, Otaria flavescens (Shaw, 1800), está diminuindo a uma taxa anual de 1,6 a 2,0% no Uruguai
The South American sea lion is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2013)
This paper presents the first record of incidental catch of the South American sea lions in Brazilian waters and by a pair trawl fishery
Summary
A população do leão-marinho-sul-americano, Otaria flavescens (Shaw, 1800), está diminuindo a uma taxa anual de 1,6 a 2,0% no Uruguai. The reasons for this population decline are still unknown, the interactions with fishing activities have been identified as a major cause of threat to the conservation of South American sea lions (IUCN, 2013; Crespo et al, 2012).
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