A pesca de atuns na costa de Sergipe

Abstract

Tuna are teleostei fish belonging to the family Scombridae, which is divided into 15 genera and 48 species, among which the bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), albacore (Thunnus alalunga), and Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) account for about 80% of the world tuna catches. In the Sergipe State fishing activity is exclusively small-scale (artisanal). Fishing production has grown more than 130% in the first decade of this century, reaching 13,300 t, in 2010, with an important participation of tunas. From 2007 on, a tuna fleet from Itaipava- ES started to catch tunas off Sergipe, propelled by the presence of oil well drilling rigs that act as artificial aggregating devices, facilitating the capture of fish in their vicinity. Part of the Sergipe artisanal fleet also began to fish tunas, driven by its increasing market value, especially during the suspension of shrimp fishing, during the closed season. The present work aims to evaluate the evolution, dynamics and current situation of the tuna fishery in the State of Sergipe from the catches made around the platforms and oil drilling vessels during the period from 2012 to 2016. The characterization of the fishing fleet was based on data from the PMPDP project, interviews with the fishermen of the tuna vessels that landed in the area of the project, and compilation of data registered by Sergipe port authority. In order to study the dynamics of the fleet, information on the geographic and bathymetric displacement of the vessels that had GPS on board was obtained and mapped, following the procedure used by ICCAT. All the vessels that operated off Sergipe used the hand-line as the method of capture, and the fishing ground did not exceed 105 km offshore from Barra dos Coqueiros and 95 km offshore from Pirambu. All the production landed in Sergipe was captured at or in the proximity of fixed structures (oil rigs) located in the coast. The highest catches were observed between May and October, with the exception of August. 70% of the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) specimens were sexually immature. The whole-weight x fork-length relationship showed a regression coefficient (b) with a negative allometric growth.