Patterns of selectiveness in the Amazonian freshwater fisheries: implications for management

Tropical fisheries, which are considered multi-species, may show selectiveness. We analyzed the degree of selectivity of fish catches in 46 sites along the Amazon basin through the percentage of biomass corresponding to the most caught fish species. Amazonian fisheries were considered moderately sel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental planning and management 2016-09, Vol.59 (9), p.1537-1559
Main Authors: Hallwass, Gustavo, Silvano, Renato A.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amazon Basin
Commercial fishing
Ecosystem assessment
Ecosystems
Environment management
Fish
fish conservation
Fisheries
Fisheries management
Fishing
Freshwater fish
freshwater fishes
Management
migratory fishes
Migratory species
overfishing
River basins
Services
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Summary:Tropical fisheries, which are considered multi-species, may show selectiveness. We analyzed the degree of selectivity of fish catches in 46 sites along the Amazon basin through the percentage of biomass corresponding to the most caught fish species. Amazonian fisheries were considered moderately selective, as 54% of the sites directed more than a quarter of fishing effort to one fish species and in 87% of the sites more than half the fishing effort was directed to five fish species. Commercial fisheries were more selective than subsistence fisheries. Eleven fish species (nine of them migratory) have received more fishing pressure in the studied Amazonian regions and the catch composition differed among regions. We thus recommend that fisheries management in the Amazon basin should distribute fishing effort among more fish species; incorporate the particularities of commercial and subsistence fisheries; evaluate fishing effects on ecosystem services; and consider the biological characteristics of preferred fish.
ISSN:0964-0568
1360-0559
DOI:10.1080/09640568.2015.1081587