Ecuador Landings in January and February 2012

Sharks and Rays caught by Ecuador in January and February 2012

 

Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine,
09. April 2012

Republic of Ecuador
Fishing Report January-February 2012

In the first two months of this year, the total estimated landings of sharks in Ecuador’s fisheries reached about 1311,46 tons. During the same time frame (Jan-Feb 2012), catches of skates/rays were reported less frequently with only 5,88 tons.

The pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus) used to be the most abundant shark species landed at the fishing ports of Ecuador ( mainly at the port of Manta ). Other dominant species in the catch statistics were the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis). These three species together made up approximately 90 percent of the total reported elasmobranch landings.

In February, Ecuadorian fishermen caught an exceptional high number of oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) with a total weight of over 42 tons. In comparison, only 0,19 tons of this species had been landed a month earlier.

Catch Reports by species for each month :

ECUADOR – Total estimated landings (t) by species – January 2012:

SHARKS:

Pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus) = 364,96 tons (64,466 %)

Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) = 88,31 tons (15,599 %)

Blue shark (Prionace glauca) = 71,75 tons (12,674 %)

Smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena) = 19,44 tons (3,434 %)

Shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) = 8,18 tons (1,445 %)

Bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus) = 6,22 tons (1,099 %)

Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) = 2,42 tons (0,427 %)

Smooth-hound shark (Mustelus spp.) = 0,86 tons (0,152 %)

Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) = 0,19 tons (0,034 %)

Crocodile shark (Pseudocarcharias kamoharai) = 0,02 tons (0,004 %)

Chilean angel shark (Squatina armata) = 0,02 tons (0,004 %)

RAYS / SKATES:

Skate (Raja spp.) = 2,10 tons (0,371 %)

Longtail stingray (Dasyatis longa) = 1,66 tons (0,293 %)

TOTAL: 566,13 tons ( 100 % )

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ECUADOR – Total estimated landings (t) by species – February 2012:

SHARKS:

Pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus) = 318,60 tons (42,412 %)

Blue shark (Prionace glauca) = 263,83 tons (35,122 %)

Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) = 76,47 tons (10,178 %)

Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) = 42,74 tons (5,689 %)

Smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena) = 26,65 tons ( 3,548 % )

Bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus) = 9,29 tons ( 1,237 % )

Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) = 8,04 tons ( 1,070 % )

Shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) = 2,32 tons ( 0,309 % )

Brown smooth-hound (Mustelus henlei) = 0,75 tons ( 0,100 % )

Blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) = 0,27 tons ( 0,036 % )

Smooth-hound shark (Mustelus spp.) = 0,13 tons ( 0,017 % )

RAYS / SKATES:

Spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) = 0,90 tons ( 0,120 % )

Whiptail stingray (Dasyatis brevis) = 0,63 tons ( 0,084 % )

Longtail stingray (Dasyatis longa) = 0,47 tons ( 0,063 % )

Stingray ( Dasyatis spp.) = 0,12 tons ( 0,016 % )

TOTAL: 751,21 tons ( 100 % )

Source: Esteban Elías and Manuel Díaz, Instituto Nacional de Pesca Ecuador.