The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 13: July 2001
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Shark Fisheries in Central America
Jorge M. Campos, José Rodrigo M. Rojas and Raúl Campos
In order to determine the status of shark fisheries in Central America a cooperative project was launched. ProAmbiente and INRECOSMAR (local NGOs) had the leading role under a cooperative agreement with PRADESPESCA, a project for fisheries development in the region funded by the European Community. Efforts concentrated on identifying available biological data, local publications on shark fisheries, formal studies and publications, catch data on marketing and trade routes.
According to Ruiz (1999), Carcharhinus falciformis, Nasolamia velox, and Sphyrna lewini represent the largest catch in Guatemala. C.˙falciformis and S.˙lewini are species commonly captured in Honduras, El Salvador and Panama (Salinas 1999, Villatoro 1999 and Ramirez and Medina 1999). In Costa Rica and Nicaragua the shark species more frequently captured are Prionace glauca, C. falciformis, Mustelus sp., S.˙lewini and Alopias superciliosus (Hernandez and Maradiaga 1999).
Use of the resource
Guatemala is the country that best utilises sharks since, except for viscera, the whole animal is used (Ruiz 1997). Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica are the extreme cases where market exists only for meat and fins (ProAmbiente 1999).
Sharks: Target fishery or incidental catch?
Shark landings in Central America come from two activities. One is coastal fishing, where sharks are incidental or complementary catches of the shrimp (Penaeidae), lobster (Palinuridae), snapper (Lutjanidae), drum (Sciaenidae) and grouper (Serranidae) fisheries. The other one is the pelagic fisheries (long-lines), where sharks are incidental catch of mahi mahi Coriphaena hippurus, marlin Tretrapterus audax and Makaira indica, sailfish Istiophorus platypterus, swordfish Xiphias gladius and tuna Thunnus albacares and T. obesus (ProAmbiente, 1999).
Regional economic importance of shark trade
In Honduras, the economic importance of sharks in the fishery is unknown. Reports from Salinas (1998) show that a portion of the shark catch is sold in local markets, mainly in Choluteca and Tegucigalpa, and some is exported to Guatemala and El Salvador. In El Salvador, sharks represent an important source of income for fishermen. In fact, between 1993 and 1997, 4,178,780 kg were landed, 12.3% of it was exported at a value of $8,987,368 (CENDEPESCA, 1998). The main export markets were the United States, Mexico and Asian countries (Villatoro 1997). In Nicaragua there is no historic data on prices or shark products marketed. Costa Rica and the United States have become Nicaragua's main export markets for shark fins and meat, respectively (Hern ndez and Maradiaga 1998). In Costa Rica, shark meat and fins contribute up to 25% of the income generated by the fishery. Between 1987 and 1997, the volume of shark fin trade was around 140,000 kg (INCOPESCA 1998), the price varied between $40 and $70 per kilogram. Main export markets are Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and United States. In 1999 in Panama, shark fin exports reached 67,582 kg with a value of $ 4,511,042. Principal markets were Hong Kong (67% of shark fins) and the United States (25.7% of shark fin trade and more that 50% of shark meat) (Ramirez and Medina 1999).
Management measures recommended
- Identification of the most important fishing banks and seasonality of shark populations present at those fishing grounds.
- Research into basic fishery data such as growth, mortality, abundance, distribution, reproduction, recruitment sizes, weight, sex size and age at sexual maturity and age structure of the populations, particularly for species that are of economic importance in Central America.
- Estimation of catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for shark species landed by national and international fleets that fish Central American waters.
- Establishment of a monitoring program to assess the mortality of sharks due to incidental fishing, as well as the fraction of sharks species that are subject to incidental capture.
- Design of management measures to continuously advise Central American fishing authorities and companies on the sustainable use of this resource.
- Integration of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the United Nations Agreement on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks to a regional fishery management scheme.
- Design and implementation of a communication campaign to educate the public and interested groups at national, regional and international levels about the threatened status of shark fisheries.
References
Centro de Desarrollo Pesquero (CENDEPESCA). 1988. Anuario de estadisticas pesqueras. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia. Division de Administracion Pesquera. Departamento de Estadisticas. Nueva San Salvador. 60˙pp.
Hernandez, A. and J. Maradiaga. 1998. La pesqueria de peces pel gicos en el oce no Pacifico de Nicaragua. Proyecto de Pesca de Mediana Altura (PMA). Direccion de Promocion y Desarrollo Pesquero. Ministerio de Economia y Desarrollo. 124˙pp.
INCOPESCA. 1998. Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura. Estadisticas de pesca de Costa Rica, 1998. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia. 52˙pp.
ProAmbiente. 1999. Diagnostico de la pesca de tiburon en Centro America. Informe preliminar de consultoria. 10˙pp.
Ramirez, R. and E. Medina. 1999. Diagnostico pesquero del recurso tiburon en Panam . Informe Tecnico. Autoridad Maritima de Panam . Direccion General de Recursos Marinos y Costeros. 26˙pp.
Ruiz, C. 1997. Caracterizacion de la pesca y comercializacion del tiburon en el Pacifico de Guatemala. Direccion General de Servicios Pecuarios. Direccion Tecnica de Pesca y Acuicultura. 45˙pp.
Ruiz, C. 1999. Informe tecnico de la pesca de tiburon en Guatemala. Direccion General de Servicios Pecuarios. Direccion Tecnica de Pesca y Acuicultura. 15˙pp.
Salinas, C. 1999. Situacion actual del recurso tiburon en Honduras. Documento Tecnico del Centro de Investigacion Pesquera del Caribe. Secretaria de Agricultura y Ganaderia. Direccion General de Pesca y Acuicultura. 25˙pp.
Villatoro, O. 1997. Evaluacion de las poblaciones de tiburones en El Salvador y comentarios sobre su sostenibilidad. Centro de Desarrollo Pesquero. Division de Investigacion Pesquera. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia.
Jorge M. Campos, Instituto de Recursos Costeros y Marinos, Apartado Postal 108-2015, San Jos, Costa Rica,
Email: promarco@racsa.co.cr
Raul Campos, Email: prombie@racsa.co.cr
and Jose Rodrigo M. Rojas, Email: yoyi66@yahoo.com
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