The octopus fishery in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, Brazil

Abstract

The Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, 350 km offshore northeastern Brazil, has a small scale fishery aiming octopus in the shallow waters of the Environmental Preservation Area. The resident population, of 3,000 inhabitants, besides up to a maximum of 500 tourists, includes 45 octopus fishers, most of them part-time. As part of a wider scope study of the shallow water octopods in northeastern Brazil, the octopus fishery was studied between 2003 and 2005. Fishers and buyers were interviewed periodically for information requests about the fishery sites, effort, catch and consumption. The fisherman, most native between 18 and 42 years old, collected octopus by diving (snorkeling) in mean two times a week, with a mean catch of 8 kg. A rough estimate of the total yearly catch is at least 3 tons, from which around 1 ton was commercialized. Interviewed restaurants and hotels suggest consumption around 8.2 tons annually, and that the local fishery provide less than 11% of this demand. This small scale fishery can be sustainable if kept at its present level and adequately controlled.