Artisanal fisheries in the SE Brazilian coast: using fisher information towards local management A. Begossi Nepam Unicamp, CP 6166, Campinas, S.P. 13081-970, Brazil Abstract Coastal artisanal fisheries in SE Brazil are located close to huge urban centers, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo cities. Many of these fisheries are also adjacent to Atlantic Forest remnants. The growth of tourism, and associated recreational fishing, along with pollution in the coastal waters, increased the chances of impact on species and on artisanal fishing. Some fish species are located close to shore, such as species of Serranidae (groupers, such as Epinephelus and Mycteroperca) and seem vulnerable to the impact from fishing and from pollution. Other species, such as from the family Centropomidae (snooks, Centropomus spp.) are found in estuarine environments, and are also a target of recreational fishers, being subject to pollution coming from coastal rivers. In order to have more information on fishing for species of Serranidae and Centropomidae, I marked the fishing spots used by artisanal fisheries in different communities found in the SE Brazilian coast. The spots were marked using GPS Garmin III and V and Magellan. Maps of the fishing spots used to catch Serranidae and Centropomidae were drawn (103 fishing spots for groupers and 36 for snooks). Such maps are based on local fisher information, and they show the area used to fish the Serranidae and Centropomidae. Such data are important to designate areas for artisanal fisheries, and to evaluate the pressure on species of Serranidae and Centropomidae. Keywords: Centropomus, Epinephelus, grouper, Mycteroperca, fishing, Brazil, snook. Sustainable Tourism, F. D. Pineda, C. A. Brebbia & M. Mugica (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-724-8 240 Sustainable Tourism 1 Introduction Coastal artisanal fisheries in Brazil are an important source of employment and food for local communities, contributing to 40-60% of the marine fish production [1]. These communities, including the communities located in the SE Brazilian coast, between the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, still maintain an artisanal technology for fishing. Fishing is mostly performed using paddled canoes or motor small woody or aluminium boats. The gear employed in these fisheries includes a variety of nets, traps and lines. There is information published for these fisheries, in particular for the communities mentioned in this study [2, 3, 4, 5]. In spite of the small-scale level of these communities, they receive influences and interferences from the outside, especially coming from activities associated with tourism. Tourists include recreational fishers that frequently fish using hook and line for different species. Some species are special targets of tourists, and they include primarily species of Serranidae. Centropomidae species are usually target of tourists in estuarine areas. In other countries, such as in Asia and in Africa, in special cases, artisanal fishing was considered to contribute to reduce fishing stocks of commercial fishes [1]. A higher impact may be expected for species targeted by both tourists and artisanal fishers, compared to other species. This could be the case of the Serranidae, represented in this study by species of Epinephelus and Mycteroperca (groupers) locally called badejo, garoupa or cherne. Among the 32 Brazilian marine fish species listed in IUCN red list, Epinephelus itajara, E. nigritus and E. marginatus are endangered or threatened [6]. Such species are used by local fishers of the SE coast of Brazil and are also target of tourists. Silvano [6] show that the estuarine snook Centropomus (Centropomus parallelus and C. undecimalis), locally called robalo is also a target of tourists, increasing the probability of concentrating catches on this species. A local demand, for studies on Centropomus, is a claim of fishers from Puruba Beach, an estuarine area that receives recreational tourists in weekends. The objective of this study is to locate the major fishing areas of the Serranidae and Centropomidae, mentioned by local fishers, in order to help the management of fishing in these coastal areas of Brazil. 1.1 Methods and study This study is part of a major project that has the objective of marking the main fishing spots used by fishers of the SE Brazilian coast, funded by Fapesp, Brazil [grants # 97/16160-7, 01/00718-1, 01/05263-2]. For this objective, communities already studied in earlier projects were re-visited (Búzios I., Grande I., Itacuruçá I., Jaguanum I, Puruba and Picinguaba) and some new communities were included (Bertioga, Guarujá I., Comprida I., Gipóia I., Itaipu and São Sebastião I.). Full-time experienced fishers, 30 years up, including at least 10 years of residence and fishing in the area studied, were chosen as informants in order to mark the spots by boat, using GPS Garmin III and V plus, and Magellan –Field. The boats used, in order to mark the fishing spots, have 15ft with motors Sustainable Tourism, F. D. Pineda, C. A. Brebbia & M. Mugica (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-724-8 Sustainable Tourism 241 of 75 and 115 HP, and 10.5 ft, with a motor of 25 HP. The spots were marked between 1997-2004, with the help of Eduardo Camargo in the fieldwork. These fishing spots are stable in time, and such stability was checked for ranges of 10- 30 years, through other studies [7,8]. Table 1: Studied sites in São Paulo State and Rio de Janeiro coast, in order from the southern to the northern coast. H= high degree of urbanization and pollution; U=urbanized tourist sites, L= less urbanized sites receiving tourists, and I= isolated places. Local Island or Municipalit State Number of Date of spot Classificatio Coast y fisher marking n informants Icapara Comprida I. Iguape São 1 May 1998 U Paulo Pereque Guarujá I. Guaruja São 1 January 2004U Beach Paulo Indaiá Coast Bertioga São 1 November U Paulo 2003 Jabaquara São Sebastião Ilhabela São 1 December L I. Paulo 2003 Serraria São Sebastião Ilhabela São 1 December L I. Paulo 2003 Porto do Búzios I. Ilhabela São 1 May 1998 I Meio Paulo Puruba Coast Ubatuba São 1 May 2003 L Beach Paulo Picinguaba Coast Ubatuba São 2 October, L Paulo 2003 Proveta Grande I. Angra dos Rio de 1 March 1998 L Reis Janeiro Flechas Gipóia I. Angra dos Rio de 1 January and L Beach Reis Janeiro March 1998 Calhaus Jaguanum I. Sepetiba, Rio de 1 April 1998 L Mangaratiba Janeiro Gamboa Itacuruçá I. Sepetiba, Rio de 1 December U Mangaratiba Janeiro 1997 Pescaria Marambaia I. Sepetiba, Rio de 1 December I Velha Mangaratiba Janeiro 2001 Beach Praia do Marambaia I. Sepetiba, Rio de 2 December I Sitio Mangaratiba Janeiro 2001 Itaipu Coast Niteroi Rio de 1 September H Beach Janeiro 2002 and March 2003 2 Results I show the results related to the spots used to fish groupers and snooks based on data collected through 17 informants from 9 islands and 4 coastal sites between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Table 1). The most common species of Serranidadae found at SE Brazilian coast are in Table 2. The species of Centropomus found are two: parallelus and undecimalis. The sites studied Sustainable Tourism, F. D. Pineda, C. A. Brebbia & M. Mugica (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-724-8 242 Sustainable Tourism include areas with a high degree of urbanization and pollution (Itaipu Beach, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro), or urbanized tourist sites (Guarujá, Comprida, São Sebastião and Itacuruçá Islands, as well as Bertioga, in the coast), less urbanized sites receiving tourists (Gipóia, Grande and Jaguanum Islands, and Puruba and Picinguaba in the coast), and relatively isolated places such as Marambaia and Búzios Islands. Table 2: Species of Serranidae found in São Paulo coast and in the coast of Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro coast [6, 9]. Species Local Name Dules auriga Cherne Epinephelus itajara Mero Epinephelus marginatus Garoupa, garoupa-verdadeira Epinephelus morio Garoupa-são-tomé Epinephelus nigritus Cherne Epinephelus niveatus Cherne Mycteroperca acutirostris Miracelo Mycteroperca bonaci Badejo, badejo-preto Mycteroperca interstitialis Água fria Parathias furcifer Namorado 2.1 Fishing for groupers In these Brazilian SE coastal areas, groupers are often caught through hook and line fishing. In the southern part of Sao Paulo, I marked 13 spots used to catch groupers, among others, in the coast of Guarujá Island, and 8 in the coast of Bertioga. In the northern coast of São Paulo, at Ubatuba, I marked 13 spots at Picinguaba, and none at Puruba Beach, 20 spots at Jabaquara and 14 at Serraria, São Sebastião Island, Ilhabela. At Búzios Island 10 spots were marked for groupers. At Rio de Janeiro State, 14 spots were marked at Grande Island, 10 at Gipóia Island and only 1 at Jaguanum Island. No spots were marked for grouper at Itacuruçá Island. In the city of Niterói, 13 spots were marked at Itaipu Beach (Figure 1). The spots cited as used to catch groupers are found especially close to rocky substrates, and for this reason they are located close to the islands of Búzios, S. Sebastião, Grande, Gipóia and Guarujá. Rocky islands are especially Búzios, S. Sebastião, and Grande. However, rocky shores close to sandy beaches also permit to find groupers, such as in the rocky substrates of Itaipu beach. Considering the high level of urbanization of Itaipu Beach at Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, and the intense tourist activities at Gipóia, Guarujá and São Sebastião Islands, especial attention should be given to such sites. The information given by the spot coordinates permits to estimate the distance of the spot to the shore, as a tool to verify if the grouper spots are located far from the rocky shore.