Ichthyofauna bycatch of trawl fishery from vessels with more than 45 hp in the Paraná coast, Brazil

Abstract

Trawl fisheries are non-selective technique. The aim of this study was to characterize the bycatch of trawling vessels motorized with more than 45 HP. Monthly samples were deployed between August 2000 and July 2001 for large boat and August 2004 and July 2005 for medium boat off the coast of Paraná. The large  and medium boat caught 45,277 and 57,387 fishes respectively. With both vessels were captured 99 taxon. Sciaenidae was the most representative family in number of species and individuals. There were differences in fish fauna between seasons and areas among south and north of the Paranaguá estuarine complex inlet for large and medium boat. The different fleet fishing the same resource but the bycatch impact with respect to species richness and abundance are different and management measures, like bycatch reduction devices, should take into account the vessel's and nets characteristics.