Abstract
Araruama Lagoon (Rio de Janeiro) is the largest hypersaline lagoon in South America. The aim of this study was to survey fishing landings, capture areas and production at this lagoon, in addition to analyzing data from the Pescarte Census. Fishing landings were monitored daily by community agents from March to August/2009, through the Petrobras Mosaico Program. Thirteen landing points were identified in five municipalities, totaling 8,096 recorded landings, and accumulating 469.1 tonnes. São Pedro da Aldeia (39.6%), Arraial do Cabo (27.7%) and areas in the central region (37.6%) and the south coast (29.1%) of the lagoon presented the highest landings and catch volumes. Twelve species were identified, mainly Pogonias courbina (48.9%) and Penaeus spp (33.8%), and gillnets were the most important fishing gear. Very few studies have addressed fishing at Araruama Lagoon, leading to current planning measures supported by little data. We advocate a participatory review of current regulations, to better address gillnet fishing and the capture of different fish species. This study is the result of research financed by the Pescarte Environmental Education Project, a mitigation measure required by the Federal Environmental Licensing, conducted by IBAMA.
Highlights
Hypersaline aquatic environments result from partial marine water trapping close to the coastal zone in areas presenting reduced rainfall rates and small drainage basins
Its greatest width is of 13 km between São Pedro da Aldeia Beach and Monte Alto, and its maximum length, not considering the Itajurú Canal, is of 39 km, with a maximum depth of 12 m (Kjerfve et al, 1996; Bidegain and Bezerril, 2002)
Salinity is always higher than in the adjacent coastal zone, varying in the east-west direction and with average values above 50 (Kjerfve et al, 1996). It is surrounded by the municipalities of Araruama, Iguaba Grande, São Pedro da Aldeia, Cabo Frio, Arraial do Cabo and Saquarema (Figure 1)
Summary
Hypersaline aquatic environments result from partial marine water trapping close to the coastal zone in areas presenting reduced rainfall rates and small drainage basins. This leads to an imbalance between evaporation and water input, gradually increasing salinity levels. These peculiar ecosystems, extremely interesting, still in-depth studies (Sales et al, 2018). Coastal lagoons in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, were formed during the recent Quaternary, due to depositional processes derived from isostatic sea Macedo et al, Bol. Inst.
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