Cuba’s shark fisheries characterization pilot project
Dr. Consuelo Aguilar BetancourtDr. Gaspar Gonzalez Sanson
Composición de las capturas de tiburones en la base de pesca
del Río Almendares (según Guitart, 1975)
Carcharhinus sygnatus
Species composition of sharks’ landings at Rio Almendaresfishing cooperative (Guitart, 1975)
0
50
100
150
200
250
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Met
ric
ton
s
Total landings of sharks in Cuban NW region
Cuba as part of the Gulf of Mexico
Workshop in Cuba (EDF, Mote, UH: 2010)
Fishing areaCabañas
Fishing areaRío Alemendares
& Cojímar
Florida straits
Gulf of Mexico Cabañas
Cojímar
Almendaresriver
Fishing ports included in the project
Sampling design
• Three visits per week to each sport fishing port
• A visit to the commercial port each time a shark fishing boat arrives
• During each visit a set of data is recorded including
– time fishing and number of fishermen,
– fishing gears and bait used,
– fishing area
– target species,
– biological information of sharks landed,
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Nu
mb
er
Individuals landed at sport fishing ports (Oct 2010 – Mar 2011)
Sharks
Swordfish
Billfishes
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Fish
ing
day
s
Ind
ivid
ual
pe
r fi
shin
gd
ay
Catch per fishing day and total fishing days at sport fishing ports
Sharks Swordfish Billfishes Fishing days
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14N
um
be
ro
f tr
ips
Boats ranked by number of trips in the period
Total fishing days per boat at sport fishing ports
28% of the boats, made57 % of total effort
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar TOTAL
Alopias superciliosus 0 1 0 1 1 0 3
Carcharhinus falciformis 0 2 0 2 3 0 7
Carcharhinus leucas 0 11 0 0 2 0 13
Carcharhinus limbatus 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Carcharhinus longimanus 1 3 0 0 0 0 4
Carcharhinus perezi 0 13 0 0 1 0 14
Carcharhinus signatus 1 1 0 1 1 1 5
Galeocerdo cuvier 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Hexanchus sp 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Isurus oxyrinchus 4 5 0 1 6 0 16
Isurus paucus 0 5 0 0 2 1 8
Mustelus sp 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Negaprion brevirostris 0 0 0 0 5 0 5
Prionace glauca 0 1 0 0 1 1 3
Sphyrna mokarran 0 7 0 0 2 0 9
TOTAL 6 49 0 6 26 4 91
Species composition of landings at all ports (Oct 2010 - Mar2011)
AR West AR East Cojímar Cabañas TOTAL
Alopias superciliosus 0 1 2 0 3
Carcharhinus falciformis 0 1 6 0 7
Carcharhinus leucas 0 0 0 13 13
Carcharhinus limbatus 0 0 0 1 1
Carcharhinus longimanus 0 0 4 0 4
Carcharhinus perezi 0 0 0 14 14
Carcharhinus signatus 2 2 1 0 5
Galeocerdo cuvier 0 0 1 0 1
Hexanchus sp 1 0 0 0 1
Isurus oxyrinchus 1 2 13 0 16
Isurus paucus 0 1 7 0 8
Mustelus sp 0 0 1 0 1
Negaprion brevirostris 0 0 0 5 5
Prionace glauca 0 0 3 0 3
Sphyrna mokarran 0 0 1 8 9
TOTAL 4 7 39 41 91
Species composition of landings for each port (Oct 2010 - Mar2011)
0 5 10 15
Alopias superciliosus
Carcharhinus falciformis
Carcharhinus leucas
Carcharhinus limbatus
Carcharhinus longimanus
Carcharhinus perezi
Carcharhinus signatus
Galeocerdo cuvier
Hexanchus vitulus
Isurus oxyrinchus
Isurus paucus
Mustelus canis
Negaprion brevirostris
Prionace glauca
Sphyrna mokarran
Individuals
Sex composition of individuals landed at all ports
Females
Males
Mustelus sp
Hexanchus sp
Some challenges…
Gracias