Sustainable harvest of two large predatory catfish in the Cuiabá river basin, northern Pantanal, Brazil

Abstract

Fishery is an important economic activity in the Pantanal. Among the region’s species, the Pimelodidae catfish stands out as an important part of the annual catch. This study assesses the structure, exploitation and stock management of Hemisorubim platyrhynchos and Sorubim cf. lima, the sixth and seventh largest Pimelodidae of the Pantanal. The analysis is based on fish caught by commercial fishing in the Cuiabá river and landed at the "Antônio Moysés Nadaf" Market in the Cuiabá city, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The findings indicate that commercial fishing activities target several fish cohorts and that usually only individuals above mean length at first maturation are caught. Estimates of the instantaneous mortality coefficient show that the current fishing mortality is low. Simulations of relative yield-per-recruit model demonstrate that the current yield of two species could be greater if the fishery effort were increased, indicating that the stocks are underexploited. However, an increase in current fishery efforts should be viewed with caution, since the stock-recruitment relationship for the species is unknown. The results indicate that the current harvest of two species in the Cuiabá River Basin is sustainable.