Temporal and spatial patterns on serra, Scomberomorus brasiliensis (Teleostei, Scombridae), catches from the fisheries on the Maranhão coast, Brazil.

V Da Batista,N N Fabré

doi:10.1590/s1519-69842001000400003

Abstract

The displacement pattern of the serra, Scomberomorus brasiliensis, in North-eastern Brazil was analyzed from landing data recorded form the fleet fishing serra. Serra fishery has two seasons: from Septemer to February (demersal species plus serra), and from March to August (almost only large amounts of serra). S. brasilienisis relative abundance increases similarly along the coast from March. but decreases first on the West coast from June. Records indicate that serra is near the coast at least until September/October in Eastern grounds. From October to March (strongest spawning season) there is no record of shoals on the coast. We concluded that the Maranhão coast is just a part of the migration circuit of S. brasilienisis that may exceed 300 nautical miles.

Highlights

Scomberomorus brasiliensis is distributed along the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts of Central and South America between the limits of 20°N and 30°S (Collette & Russo, 1984). It is an important fishery resource of the western Central Atlantic waters (Stevenson, 1981) and of Northeastern Brazil (Fonteles-Filho, 1988). It has been harvested with gill nets and with trolling lines and fishing-weirs in Brazil (Fonteles-Filho, 1988) and with beach seines in Trinidad (Sturm, 1978)
There is no register of extensive migrations for S. brasiliensis (Collette & Russo, 1984), its fishery is typically seasonal in Colombia (Dahl, 1971), Venezuela (Griffiths & Simpson, 1972), Trinidad (Sturm, 1978), and the State of Ceará in Northeastern Brazil (Fonteles-Filho, 1988)
The authors of these papers analyzed local patterns of occurrence for the species for a year, no one evaluated spatial and temporal patterns of the catches throughout their range this should be done since it has serious economic consequences for done serra fishery

Summary

Introduction

Scomberomorus brasiliensis is distributed along the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts of Central and South America between the limits of 20°N and 30°S (Collette & Russo, 1984) It is an important fishery resource of the western Central Atlantic waters (Stevenson, 1981) and of Northeastern Brazil (Fonteles-Filho, 1988). There is no register of extensive migrations for S. brasiliensis (Collette & Russo, 1984), its fishery is typically seasonal in Colombia (Dahl, 1971), Venezuela (Griffiths & Simpson, 1972), Trinidad (Sturm, 1978), and the State of Ceará in Northeastern Brazil (Fonteles-Filho, 1988) The authors of these papers analyzed local patterns of occurrence for the species for a year, no one evaluated spatial and temporal patterns of the catches throughout their range this should be done since it has serious economic consequences for done serra fishery. This fleet has different kinds of fishing boats (Fabré & Batista, 1992) which spend much traveling to the fishing grounds (about 15%-20% of each trip)

Methods

Results

Conclusion