MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

https://doi.org/10.47193/mafis.3322020301103

ABSTRACT. This study describes shore-based competitive fishing events in Ilhéus, southern

Bahia (Brazil), including catch composition, and provides information on the profile of recreational

fishers participating in these events. Information was collected in all events promoted by the Clube

de Pesca de Ilhéus (CLUPESIL) in 2007-2008. A total of 26 competitive fishing events were organ-

ized during this period, with 47 species caught. The top species were: Cathorops spixii,

Menticirrhus littoralis, Trachinotus goodei, Eucinostomus melanopterus, Polydactylus virginicus,

Atherinella brasiliensis, and Eucinostomus argenteus. These seven species represented 87% of the

total catch in number and 78% in weight. Menticirrhus littoralis and Polydactylus virginicus are

species of commercial interest and their catch was dominated by juveniles. Local recreational fish-

ers were predominately middle-aged men, who tended to use small hooks and mainly shrimp as bait.

They were consumption-oriented, but also released small fishes. During competitions, fishers used

even smaller hooks. Most of them perceived shrimp trawling as the main factor affecting recreation-

al fisheries. The use of larger hooks and a minimum fish size of 20 cm are suggested to decrease the

capture of juveniles, mainly those species of commercial importance. This study sets a baseline from

which new studies can be proposed to access the current status of local recreational fisheries.

Key words: Angling, recreational fishery, sport fishing, shore-based fisheries, tournament, north-

eastern Brazil.

Pesca recreativa competitiva desde la costa en el sur de Bahía, Brasil: un estudio de línea de

base

RESUMEN. Este estudio describe eventos competitivos de pesca desde la costa en Ilhéus, sur de

Bahía (Brasil), incluida la composición de la captura, y proporciona información sobre el perfil de

los pescadores recreativos que participan en estos eventos. La información se recopiló en todos los

eventos promovidos por el Clube de Pesca de Ilhéus (CLUPESIL) en 2007-2008. Se organizaron un

total de 26 eventos de pesca competitiva durante este período con 47 especies capturadas. Las prin-

cipales especies fueron: Cathorops spixii, Menticirrhus littoralis, Trachinotus goodei, Eucinostomus

melanopterus, Polydactylus virginicus, Atherinella brasiliensis y Eucinostomus argenteus. Estas

siete especies representaron el 87% de la captura total en número y el 78% en peso. Menticirrhus

littoralis y Polydactylus virginicus son especies de interés comercial y su captura estuvo dominada

por juveniles. Los pescadores recreativos locales eran predominantemente hombres de mediana

edad, que solían usar anzuelos pequeños y principalmente camarones como carnada. Estaban orien-

tados al consumo, pero también liberaron peces pequeños. Durante las competiciones, los

pescadores usaron anzuelos incluso más pequeños. La mayoría de ellos percibió a el arrastre de

MARINE IMPACTS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE

Shore-based competitive recreational fisheries in southern Bahia, Brazil: a

baseline study

KÁTIA MEIRELLES FELIZOLA FREIRE1, 2, *, FELIPE PINTO NASCIMENTO2, 3 and GECELY RODRIGUES ALVES ROCHA2

1Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca e Aquicultura, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Cidade Universitária Prof. José Aloísio de Campos,

Av. Mal. Rondon s/n, Jardim Rosa Elze - São Cristóvão, Brazil. 2Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Campus Soane Nazaré de Andrade,

Rodovia Jorge Amado, km 16, Salobrinho - Ilhéus, Brazil. 3Instituto do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (INEMA), Avenida Luís Viana

Filho, 6ª Avenida, nº 600, CA - Salvador, Brazil

183

Marine and

Fishery Sciences

MAFIS

*Correspondence:

kmffreire2018@gmail.com

Received: 1 June 2020

Accepted: 8 July 2020

ISSN 2683-7595 (print)

ISSN 2683-7951 (online)

https://ojs.inidep.edu.ar

Journal of the Instituto Nacional de

Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero

(INIDEP)

This work is licensed under a

Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

International License

INTRODUCTION

Recreational fisheries have been recognized

worldwide as an important industry, which gener-

ates about 39.7 billion USD in expenditure for

marine waters only (Cisneros-Montemayor and

Sumaila 2010). Some rough global estimates

available indicated that recreational catches

amounted to about 0.5-11 million tonnes, includ-

ing only inland fisheries, only marine fisheries or

both (Coates 1995; Cooke and Cowx 2004),

which are small in relation to commercial catches

(FAO 2018). Only recently, catches originating

from marine recreational fisheries were estimated

in a per country basis using several different

approaches depending on local data availability,

indicating that around 0.9 million tonnes were

extracted from marine waters by recreational

fishers in 2014 (Freire et al. 2020). Even though

recreational catches are globally small, they may

surpass commercial catches for some species

(Gentner and Lowther 2002; Coleman et al. 2004;

Freire et al. 2020). Global number of anglers is

also unknown, but Arlinghaus et al. (2020)

revised all participation rates available around the

globe indicating a global participation rate of

10.6% and increasing up to 42% in countries such

as Norway. For developing countries as a whole,

these estimates are unavailable. According to

Arlinghaus et al. (2020), participation rate is

unknown for regions such as Central America, the

Caribbean, Africa, and Southeast, Central and

Western Asia. For South America, participation

rate is 0-5% and has been increasing in the last

years. In Brazil, this proportion may be slightly

lower than 1% (Freire et al. 2016).

A comprehensive analysis of recreational fish-

eries requires the understanding of their different

sectors: shore-based, boat-based (both coastal

and oceanic), spearfishing, participants of com-

petitive fishing events (tournaments, champi-

onships, jamborees), and freshwater and marine

fisheries. Each sector has different consumption

habits and motivation factors, which result in a

range of fishing practices (Fedler and Ditton

1994). Ultimately, these choices will be reflected

in fishing policies. The importance of competitive

events has been underestimated, even though

their frequency in some regions is very high. In

North America, e.g., about 25,000 events were

promoted in 2000-2001 in freshwater and another

978 in marine waters (Kerr and Kamke 2003).

Some of them may have up to 3,000 participants

(Schramm Jr. et al. 1991), which could have a

considerable high impact on the abundance of tar-

get species, especially when targeting single

species. In Brazil, there is no estimate of the total

number of events, but Freire (2010) reported a

total of 100 promoted annually in marine waters

only in northeastern Brazil.

Llompart et al. (2012) emphasized that most of

the studies on marine recreational fisheries have

been carried out in the Northern Hemisphere with

a few studies in the Southern Hemisphere, includ-

ing Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Information about recreational fisheries in South

America (including Brazil) is also scarce and, in

some cases, restricted to a few oceanic fishing

tournaments (see, e.g., Mourato et al. 2016;

Mourato et al. 2019). This is equally true for cold

temperate marine waters in South America, where

Llompart et al. (2012) claimed to have analysed

for the first time the major coastal recreational

fishery. In northeastern Brazil, a typically tropical

184 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

camarones como el principal factor que afecta la pesca recreativa. Se sugiere el uso de anzuelos más grandes y un tamaño mínimo de

20 cm para disminuir la captura de juveniles, principalmente los de especies de importancia comercial. Este estudio establece una línea

de base a partir de la cual se pueden proponer nuevos estudios para acceder al estado actual de la pesca recreativa local.

Palabras clave: Pesca con caña, pesca recreativa, pesca deportiva, pesca desde la costa, torneo, noreste de Brasil.

area, the availability of studies is also scarce (see,

e.g., Nunes et al. 2012; Freire et al. 2017). In this

region, recreational fishers are organized in fish-

ing clubs and prefer shore-based fishing activities

(Freire 2005), even though offshore recreational

fisheries have been gaining many adepts through-

out the years (Freire et al. 2018). Some clubs are

very active in promoting fishing tournaments all

year around, but do not record their catch by

species. Therefore, there is a lack of knowledge

about catch composition. One of these fishing

clubs, CLUPESIL (Clube de Pesca de Ilhéus), is

located in southern Bahia (Municipality of Ilhéus)

and has been very active in promoting competi-

tive fishing events since 1975 when it was estab-

lished. The objective of this study was to describe

competitive fishing events taking place in Ilhéus,

southern Bahia, including the catch composition,

and to provide information on the profile of recre-

ational fishers participating in these events to

serve as a baseline to assess changes to current

state and future perspectives.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Competitive fishing events and ichthyofauna

All competitive fishing events promoted by the

Ilhéus Fishing Club (Clube de Pesca de Ilhéus -

CLUPESIL) within the limits of the municipality

of Ilhéus (about 32 km to the north and 33 km to

the south) were monitored in 2007-2008 (Figure

1). Three other fishing clubs existed in Ilhéus dur-

ing that period: Candirú Clube de Pesca, Clube de

Pesca da Gabriela, and Estrela do Mar. However,

none of them promoted fishing competitions.

CLUPESIL organized one to three competitive

fishing events per month in Ilhéus, with a total of

26 events in 2007-2008 (Table 1). Fishers from

the other three local clubs participated in these

events. Some events were two days long (four

hours on Saturday afternoon and four hours on

Sunday morning), such as Torneio da Gabriela,

which attracted fishers from other states

(Alagoas, Sergipe, Espírito Santo, and Rio de

Janeiro), totaling 168 fishers in 2007 and 96 in

2008. All the others were one-day events, lasting

four hours (Saturday afternoon or Sunday morn-

ing), and all participants inhabited Ilhéus or the

surroudings. An average of 40 fishers took part in

the CLUPESIL Internal Championship (Campeo-

nato Individual de Pesca de Arremesso de Praia

do CLUPESIL) in 2007, starting with 48 fishers

and finishing with 32 by the end of the year. In

2008, 54 fishers were present in the first round,

but only 38 participated in the last round. In order

to account for differences in effort among events,

number and weight of fishes caught were divided

by number of fishers before the analysis of tem-

poral trends.

After each event, the organizers recorded the

results as total number of fishes caught per recre-

ational fisher and their corresponding total weight.

These data were used to calculate the mean fish

weight throughout the study period. Our research

team then separated each specimen by common

name in buckets. The identification of specimens

by common name was done by an ‘expert’ fisher

nominated by the participants based on his long

term experience. The content of each bucket was

then counted, weighed, and recorded by common

name. Between one and three specimens associat-

ed with each common name were taken to the

Laboratório de Oceanografia Biológica at the Uni-

versidade Estadual de Santa Cruz to be identified

by their scientific names mainly according to

Figueiredo and Menezes (1978, 1980, 2000) and

Menezes and Figueiredo (1980, 1985). The total

number and weight of each species caught were

calculated based on the results of the competitive

events. Species found in 75-100% of competitive

events were considered ‘highly frequent’, in 50-

74% were ‘frequent’, and ‘occasional’ if found in

less than 50% of the events. Catch per unit of

effort (CPUE) was calculated both in number and

weight of fish per recreational fisher.

185

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Additionally, samples of at least 30 specimens

of each main species (unless a smaller number

was caught) were taken from each event after

being counted and weighed by the organizers,

and carried to the laboratory to be individually

measured (total length; cm), weighed (total

weight; g) and sexed, and had their maturity

stage defined based on a macroscopic analysis. A

simple four stage scale of maturity was used

(Vazzoler 1996): I – immature; II – developing;

III – ripe; IV – post-spawning. Only detailed

information for Menticirrhus littoralis (Hol-

brook, 1847) and Polydactylus virginicus (Lin-

naeus, 1758) were presented due to the availabil-

ity of size at first maturity from the literature

(Braun and Fontoura 2004) or the collection of

sufficient data to fit a maturity curve (using the

proportion of stages II, III and IV), allowing for

the estimation of the proportion of juveniles in

the catch. These species are caught by commer-

cial fisheries and were also captured by recre-

ational fishers in the neighbor state of Sergipe,

the only state in northeastern Brazil where catch

composition in fishing competitive events was

provided by species (Freire et al. 2017). A t-test

considering equal variances was applied to com-

pare the mean size between 2007 and 2008 for

these two species.

Association among fishing grounds (beaches)

was assessed using cluster analysis after trans-

forming the abundance data using square root to

decrease the weight of very abundant species

(Krebs 1999) and calculating the Bray-Curtis

similarity index.

186 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

Figure 1. Beaches where competitive fishing events promoted by CLUPESIL occurred in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, Brazil (2007-

2008). Downtown Ilhéus corresponds to Espigão, Velhos Marinheiros, Avenida, and Cristo. Pé de Serra to São Miguel

are northern beaches and Pousada Ecológica to Lençóis are southern beaches.

187

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Table 1. Competitive fishing events promoted by Clube de Pesca de Ilhéus (CLUPESIL) in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2007 and 2008.

Event (round) Data Period Category* Number of anglers Locality

1. Clupesil Championship (1st) 10/3/2007 14:00-18:00 Individual 48 Praia dos Velhos Marinheiros (D)

2. Clupesil Championship (2nd) 25/3/2007 08:30-12:30 Individual 46 Pousada Ecológica (S)

3. Clupesil Championship (3rd) 22/4/2007 08:00-12:00 Individual 35 Falafina (N)

4. Clupesil Championship (4th) 06/5/2007 08:00-12:00 Individual 36 Condomínio Japará (N)

5. Clupesil Championship (5th) 12/5/2007 13:30-17:30 Individual 37 Praia do Cristo (D)

6. Ilhéus City Tournament 28/6/2007 08:00-12:00 Double 54 Praia da Avenida (D)

7. Clupesil Championship (6th) 22/7/2007 08:00-12:00 Individual 36 Praia do Pé de Serra (N)

8. Clupesil Championship (7th) 18/8/2007 13:00-17:00 Individual 30 Praia de São Miguel (N)

9. Clupesil Championship (8th) 23/9/2007 07:30-11:30 Individual 29 Praia de Lençóis (S)

10. Clupesil Championship (9th) 23/10/2007 13:30-17:30 Individual 26 Praia do Espigão (D)

11. 24th Gabriela Tournament (1st) 03/11/2007 13:00-17:00 Triplet 168 Praia da Avenida (D)

12. 24th Gabriela Tournament (2nd) 04/11/2007 06:00-10:00 Triplet 168 Praia da Avenida (D)

13. Clupesil Championship (10th) 25/11/2007 08:00-12:00 Individual 32 Acuípe (S)

14. Clupesil Championship (1st) 29/3/2008 13:00-17:00 Individual 54 Praia da Avenida (D)

15. Clupesil Championship (2nd) 27/4/2008 07:00-11:00 Individual 50 Falafina (N)

16. Clupesil Championship (3rd) 04/5/2008 07:00-11:00 Individual 50 Clube do BANEB (S)

17. Clupesil Championship (4th) 15/6/2008 08:00-12:00 Individual 48 Acuípe (S)

18. Double Tournament Ilhéus 28/6/2008 08:00-12:00 Double 64 Praia dos Velhos Marinheiros (D)

19. 1st Banking Clerk Tournament 13/7/2008 08:30-12:30 Individual 27 Clube do BANEB (S)

20. Clupesil Championship (5th) 27/7/2008 08:30-12:30 Individual 44 Praia de Lençóis (S)

21. Clupesil Championship (6th) 09/8/2008 13:00-17:00 Individual 45 Praia de São Miguel (N)

22. Clupesil Championship (7th) 20/9/2008 13:00-17:00 Individual 38 Praia do Espigão (D)

23. Clupesil Championship (8th) 19/10/2008 13:00-17:00 Individual 37 Praia dos Velhos Marinheiros (D)

24. 25th Gabriela Tournament (1st) 01/11/2008 13:00-17:00 Triplet 96 Praia da Avenida (D)

25. 25th Gabriela Tournament (2nd) 02/11/2008 06:00-10:00 Triplet 96 Praia da Avenida (D)

26. Clupesil Championship (9th) 30/11/2008 08:00-12:00 Individual 38 Acuípe (S)

*Individual: one angler, double: two anglers (any gender or age category, but registered according to the strongest category), triplet: maximum of three anglers

(any gender or age class, but registered according to the strongest category); D, N, and S refer to beaches located downtown, in the northern coast, and in the

southern coast of Ilhéus, respectively.

Profile of recreational fishers

A questionnaire with 22 open- and close-ended

questions was applied in 2008 to recreational fish-

ers that participated actively in the CLUPESIL

Internal Championship. As previously mentioned,

a maximum of 54 fishers were present at the

beginning of this championship (March 2008), but

numbers decreased throughout the year and some

fishers may have missed some of the rounds. The

questionnaire was personally applied to fishers by

one of the authors right after each of the rounds in

an attempt to include all fishers. No fisher refused

to participate in this study. The questionnaire

included socio-economic questions related to gen-

der, age, profession, and wages. Wages were

defined in intervals (1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-20, >20) and

represented the number of minimum wages

earned by month per fisher (R$ 415.00 in 2008 ≈

USD 226.00). Questions also included details on

fishing habits and gears, including gear type, line

thickness, and hook size. Hook size was defined

as the commercial standard locally used (3/0, 2/0,

1/0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 24). An aluminum

plate with each of these hooks glued on its top was

shown during the interview. In order to evaluate

fishing activities outside competitive events, other

questions were added: preferred fishing ground,

preferred time of the year and days of the week for

fishing, catch-and-release practice, destination of

fishes caught, origin of fishing knowledge, and

fishing mates. Finally, fishers were asked about

the number of years of fishing experience and

which problems have affected recreational fish-

eries during this period.

RESULTS

Competitive fishing events and ichthyofauna

A total of 10,026 fishes (about 360 kg) were

caught in all competitive fishing events that took

place in Ilhéus in 2007-2008. Each fisher caught

an average of eight fishes per event. They usually

caught between three and 11 fishes, but they

caught a maximum of 17 and 19 in March and

May, respectively (Figure 2 A), all of them in

downtown Ilhéus. Mean catch in weight per fish-

er was 260 g (138-430 g; Figure 2 B). In general,

an increase in mean weight per fish was observed

throughout the studied period (Figure 3). Each

specimen had a mean weight of 39 g, with two

events showing lower mean weight than the trend

observed (9 and 20 g; Figure 3), both of them in

downtown Ilhéus. The highest mean weight per

fish (80 g) occurred in southern Ilhéus, which was

above the general trend (Figure 3).

Based on the analysis of all specimens caught,

we were able to identify fishes as belonging to

47 species and 22 families. Families with the

highest number of species were: Carangidae (9

species), Sciaenidae (6), Haemulidae (5), Gerrei-

dae (4), Ariidae (3), Engraulidae (3), and Cen-

tropomidae (2) (Table 2). Among the most repre-

sentative families, Ariidae was the most impor-

tant (about 37% for both number and weight),

followed by Carangidae, Gerreidae, Sciaenidae,

Polynemidae, Atherinopsidae, Haemulidae, and

Centropomidae. No species was present in all

events. The following species were relevant, rep-

resenting altogether 87% of the total catch in

number and 78% in weight: Cathorops spixii

(Agassiz, 1829), Menticirrhus littoralis,Tra-

chinotus goodei Jordan and Evermann, 1896,

Eucinostomus melanopterus (Bleeker, 1863),

Polydactylus virginicus,Atherinella brasiliensis

(Quoy and Gaimard, 1825), and Eucinostomus

argenteus Baird and Girard, 1855. These

species, together with Trachinotus carolinus

(Linnaeus, 1766), Genidens genidens (Cuvier,

1829), and Caranx hippos (Linnaeus, 1766),

were considered highly frequent or frequent,

occurring in 50% or more of all fishing events.

The remaining species had a frequency of occur-

rence lower than 50% and were considered occa-

sional (Table 2).

188 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

189

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Figure 2. Number (A) and weight in grams (B) of fishes caught per recreational fisher in each competitive fishing event promot-

ed by CLUPESIL in Ilhéus, southern Bahia (2007-2008). Vertical lines represent minimum and maximum values and

horizontal lines indicate mean values for each month.

Figure 3. Mean weight of individual fishes caught by recreational fishers during competitive fishing events promoted by CLU-

PESIL in Ilhéus, southern Bahia (2007-2008; females and males combined). White circles represent outliers.

20

15

10

5

0Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

CPUE (number fisher )

-1

500

400

300

200

100

0

CPUE (g fisher )

-1

Month

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Month

A

B

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Mar/07

Apr/07

May/07

Mean weight (g fish )

-1

Jun/07

Jul/07

Aug/07

Sep/07

Oct/07

Nov/07

Dec/07

Mar/08

Apr/08

May/08

Jun/08

Jul/08

Aug/08

Sep/08

Oct/08

Nov/08

Jan/08

Feb/08

Month/year

190 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

Table 2. Species composition of catches originating from competitive fishing events that took place in the coast of Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2007-2008.

Frequency of occurrence (related to the percentage of events in which each species occurred): highly frequent (occurred in 75-100% of the events),

frequent (50-74%), and occasional (<50%).

Species Common name Common name Family Total Total Frequency of

in English in Portuguese number weight (g) occurrence

Cathorops spixii Madamango sea catfish Bagre Ariidae 3,327 96,950 Highly frequent

Menticirrhus littoralis Gulf kingcroaker Corre costa Sciaenidae 1,285 68,307 Highly frequent

Trachinotus goodei Great pompano Pampo galhudo/Aratobaia Carangidae 1,095 23,467 Highly frequent

Eucinostomus melanopterus Flagfin mojarra Carapicu Gerreidae 855 17,210 Highly frequent

Polydactylus virginicus Barbu Barbudo Polynemidae 764 47,800 Highly frequent

Atherinella brasiliensis Brazilian silverside Pisquila Atherinopsidae 742 5,530 Frequent

Eucinostomus argenteus Silver mojarra Carapicu Gerreidae 653 6,674 Frequent

Trachinotus carolinus Florida pompano Pampo espinha mole/ Carangidae 413 16,595 Highly frequent

Pampo verdadeiro

Genidens genidens Guri sea catfish Bagre Ariidae 322 27,637 Frequent

Caranx hippos Crevalle jack Cabeçudo/Guaricema Carangidae 165 5,881 Highly frequent

Carangidae - - Carangidae 50 590 Occasional

Centropomus parallelus Fat snook Robalo comum Centropomidae 45 6,850 Occasional

Haemulopsis corvinaeformis Roughneck grunt Cocoroca Haemulidae 43 2,110 Occasional

Conodon nobilis Barred grunt Roncador Haemulidae 28 916 Occasional

Syacium micrurum Channel flounder Linguado Paralichthyidae 22 250 Occasional

Diapterus auratus Irish mojarra Carapeba Gerreidae 19 4,825 Occasional

Trachinotus falcatus Permit Pampo Redondo Carangidae 17 110 Occasional

Bagre bagre Coco sea catfish Bagre fidalgo Ariidae 14 6,675 Occasional

Sphoeroides testudineus Checkered puffer Baiacu Tetraodontidae 13 2,040 Occasional

Labrisomus nuchipinnis Hairy blenny Blênio/Moré macaco Labrisomidae 12 234 Occasional

Ophioscion punctatissimus Spotted croaker Cabeça dura/Corvina Sciaenidae 12 656 Occasional

Unidentified catfish - Bagre não identificado Ariidae 12 1,174 Occasional

Strongylura timucu Timucu Agulhão Belonidae 11 632 Occasional

Caranx latus Horse-eye jack Xaréu Carangidae 9 239 Occasional

Anisotremus virginicus Porkfish Pirambu/Sargo Haemulidae 8 2,904 Occasional

Hyporhamphus unifasciatus Common halfbeak Agulhinha/Farnangaio Hemiramphidae 8 204 Occasional

Lycengraulis grossidens Atlantic sabretooth Sardinha xangó/Manjuba Engraulidae 8 232 Occasional

anchovy

191

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Table 2. Continued.

Species Common name Common name Family Total Total Frequency of

in English in Portuguese number weight (g) occurrence

Anisotremus surinamensis Black margate Pirambu/Sargo Haemulidae 7 927 Occasional

Paralonchurus brasiliensis Banded croaker Riscadinho Sciaenidae 7 630 Occasional

Albula vulpes Bonefish Ubarana/Ubarana rato Albulidae 5 1,565 Occasional

Centropomus undecimalis Common snook Robalo Centropomidae 5 2,655 Occasional

Engraulidae Engraulid Arenque/Sardinha Engraulidae 4 66 Occasional

Harengula clupeola False herring Sardinha cascuda Engraulidae 4 39 Occasional

Caranx crysos Blue runner Cabeçudo/Guaricema Carangidae 3 4 Occasional

Cetengraulis edentulus Atlantic anchoveta Sardinha maçambê Engraulidae 3 51 Occasional

Chilomycterus spinosus - Baiacu espinho Diodontidae 3 54 Occasional

Chloroscombrus chrysurus Atlantic bumper Garapau Carangidae 3 37 Occasional

Oligoplites saurus Leatherjacket Guaibira/Guiavira Carangidae 3 175 Occasional

Selene vomer Lookdown Peixe galo Carangidae 3 533 Occasional

Stellifer rastrifer Rake stardrum Mirucaia Sciaenidae 3 52 Occasional

Unidentified fish Unidentified fish Piramboca Unidentified 3 120 Occasional

Diplectrum radiale Pond perch Margarida Serranidae 2 69 Occasional

Genyatremus luteus Torroto grunt Sauara Haemulidae 2 1,030 Occasional

Lutjanus synagris Lane snapper Ariocó Lutjanidae 2 325 Occasional

Ophichthus cylindroideus Dusky snake eel Mututuca Ophichthidae 2 275 Occasional

Parrella macropteryx - Blênio Gobiidae 2 20 Occasional

Unidentified catfish Unidentified catfish Bagre chibungo Ariidae 1 1,106 Occasional

Bairdiella ronchus Ground croaker Mirucaia Sciaenidae 1 30 Occasional

Centropomus sp. Snook Robalo Centropomidae 1 665 Occasional

Dasyatidae Ray Arraia Dasyatidae 1 1,410 Occasional

Diapterus rhombeus Caitipa mojarra Carapeba Gerreidae 1 44 Occasional

Lagocephalus lagocephalus Oceanic puffer Baiacu ará Tetraodontidae 1 865 Occasional

Larimus breviceps Shorthead drum Boca torta Sciaenidae 1 70 Occasional

Opisthonema oglinum Atlantic thread herring Sardinha maçambê Clupeidae 1 5 Occasional

Total - - - 10,026 359,516 -

We present here detailed information for two

highly frequent species, M. littoralis and P. vir-

ginicus, which were also studied in the state of

Sergipe, for comparison purposes. Frequency dis-

tribution of total length for M. littoralis indicated

that 86% of the specimens were below the maturi-

ty size available in the literature (Figure 4). It was

not possible to estimate the maturity curve for this

species using our local data. There was no statisti-

cally significant difference in mean total length

between 2007 and 2008 for M. littoralis (t =

0.969; p =0.33). Size at first maturity estimated in

this study for females P. virginicus was 22.1 cm

TL (Figure 5). A proportion of 80% of the sampled

specimens were below the maturity size (Figure

6). Similarly, no statistically significant difference

was observed in mean total length between 2007

and 2008 for P. virginicus (t =0.089; p =0.93).

Cluster analysis grouped sampling sites into

three groups independently of the time of the

year: one group made up of beaches located in

southern Ilhéus (Praia de Acuípe and Praia de

Lençóis); one group of beaches in northern Ilhéus

(Condomínio Japará, Pé da Serra, and Falafina);

and one final group of beaches located downtown

(Praia do Espigão, Praia da Avenida, and Praia

dos Milionários) (Figure 7). Even though Praia de

São Miguel is not properly located in downtown

Ilheús, it presented similar catch composition.

These three groups had in common a high num-

ber of C. spixii,M. littoralis, and T. goodei. How-

ever, C. spixii was more abundant downtown and

T. goodei in the north. Menticirrhus littoralis was

equally abundant in events occurring along the

entire coast. Additional differences were a high

predominance of E. melanopterus downtown and

P. virginicus in the south. Praia do Cristo was

included in a separated group as it was character-

ized by the dominance of E. argenteus, followed

by A. brasiliensis, in an estuarine area.

Profile of the recreational fishers

A total of 57 recreational fishers were inter-

viewed during the CLUPESIL Championship

and thus included most of the active members of

this fishing club at that time, as the club had 54

and 67 active members in 2007 and 2008,

respectively. Currently, CLUPESIL has 60

active members. Most of these fishers were men

(75%) and their age ranged between 7 and 70

years, with the majority of them being 36-54

years old (46%) (Figure 8). Most of the fishers

were vendors (12 fishers), students (9), retired

192 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

Figure 4. Frequency distribution of total length for Menticirrhus littoralis caught in competitive fishing events promoted by

CLUPESIL in Ilhéus, southern Bahia (2007-2008). Dashed vertical line indicates mean size at first maturity (Braun and

Fontoura 2004).

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Absolute frequency

Total length (cm)

810121416182022242628303234

n 192=

men/women (6), dentists and technicians (4

each), or public servants (3), followed by teach-

ers, accountants, receptionists, desk assistants,

lawyers and wall painters (2 each), and doctor,

nurse, unemployed, bank officer, nursing assis-

tant, administrative assistant, and port employee

(1 each). Most cited monthly wages were 2-5

(39%) and 6-10 minimum wages (23%) (Figure

9). All fishers older than 18 years old had a fish-

ing license, as it was (and still is) a requirement

to participate in the CLUPESIL Championship.

Younger fishers are not obliged to carry license

(unless desiring to have a catch quota), but those

older than 65 have to carry the license even

193

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Figure 5. Mean size at first maturity for Polydactylus virginicus (TLm=22.1 cm) estimated on specimens caught in competitive

fishing events in Ilhéus, southern Bahia (2007-2008). % mature includes maturity stages: II – developing, III – ripe, and

IV – post-spawning (Vazzoler 2006).

Figure 6. Frequency distribution of total length for Polydactylus virginicus caught in competitive fishing events in Ilhéus, south-

ern Bahia (2007-2008). Dashed vertical line indicates mean size at first maturity estimated from Figure 5.

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

Absolute frequency

Total length (cm)

810121416182022242628303234

n1=33

6

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

% mature

Total length (cm)

0510 15 20 25 30 35

though they do not have to pay for it, according

to the national regulation. Most of the fishers

enjoyed fishing during both competitive events

and outside events (38%), followed by those

who liked only competitive events (32%) or no

competitions at all (30%).

Recreational fishers employed line with mean

thickness of 0.26 mm (0.10-0.40 mm) during

competitive fishing events, which was thinner

than the line used outside competitive events

(mean =0.37 mm; 0.10-0.90 mm). Hooks used

outside competitive events were also larger in

194 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

Figure 8. Age of recreational fishers affiliated to CLUPESIL based on 57 questionnaires answered in 2008 (Ilhéus, southern

Bahia).

Figure 7. Dendrogram showing similarity of beaches in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, according to their fish species composition (as

caught in competitive fishing events in 2007-2008). Letters indicate beaches: PC (Praia do Cristo), PEs (Praia do

Espigão), PA (Praia da Avenida), VM (Praia dos Velhos Marinheiros), PS (Pé de Serra), PEc (Pousada Ecológica), FA

(Falafina), SM (Praia de São Miguel), PL (Praia de Lencóis), AC (Acuípe), and CJ (Condomínio Japará). First number

indicates month and second number, year. Thus: AC11_7 =Acuípe in November 2007. Horizontal continuous line is the

cut limit indicating the uniqueness of Praia do Cristo, southern beaches (AC, PL), northern beaches (CJ, PS, FA), and

downtown beaches (PA, VM, PEs). São Miguel (SM) is located near downtown beaches and presents similar features in

terms of species composition. Ovals indicate outliers.

PC5_7

AC6_8

AC11_7

AC11_8

PL9_7

PL7_8

PEs9_8

VM3_7

CJ5_7

PS7_7

PEc3_7

FA4_8

FA4_7

PA3_8

VM10_8

SM8_8

PEs10_7

Samples

Similarity

0

20

40

60

80

100

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

00-9 9-18 18-27 27-36 36-45 45-54 54-63 63-72

Relative frequency (%)

Age (years)

average, but a wider selection of sizes was used

(Figure 10). These results were aligned with the

objective of fishers during competitive events:

catch many fishes (55%), leisure (31%), catch

large fishes (11%), or catch certain species (3%).

Most of the recreational fishers cited the use of

spinning reel (67%), spinning reel or reel (23%),

and only reel (10%) during fishing activities. The

most common bait was shrimp, which was used

by 100% of the interviewed fishers. In addition,

ghost shrimp or ‘corrupto’ (Crustacea, Stom-

atopoda; 12%), fish pieces (3%), and crab

‘grauçá’, Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787)

(Crustacea, Decapoda; 3%) were used in different

proportions. Several preferred fishing grounds

(during competitions or not) were cited by inter-

viewed recreational fishers, but most of them

mentioned Acuípe (in the south; 16%) and south-

ern beaches in general (from Opaba Hotel to

Cururupe River; 13%) (Figure 11). They usually

did not show preference for fishing in particular

months (60%), but preferred to go fishing in the

morning (74%) and during weekends (77%).

Outside competitive events, a total of 49% of

the interviewed recreational fishers declared eat-

ing their catch, 40% eating or donating it, and

11% donating it. In terms of catch-and-release

habits, 95% of them released small fishes, but

also catfishes (Ariidae; 9%), pufferfishes

(Tetraodontiformes; 2%), and A. brasiliensis

(2%). Only a small proportion (2%) declared not

practicing catch-and-release at all. A proportion

of 43% of the interviewed fishers learned how to

fish with their father, 21% with friends, and 15%

were self-taught. The remaining fishers learned

either with their husband, brother, grandfather,

boss, mother, or father-in-law. However, most of

them went fishing mainly with friends (36%),

father (15%), son (12%), or alone (12%), but also

with their wife, husband, brother, mother, or fam-

ily in general.

Recreational fishers had between 0 and 55

years of fishing experience but had been taking

part in competitive fishing events for 0 to 34

years (Figure 12). Most of them had 0-10 years of

fishing experience at that time (33%) and the

same amount of time taking part in competitive

events (58%). A high proportion of fishers stated

that the main existing problem for recreational

fisheries was shrimp trawling (49%; note some

fishers mentioned more than one problem), which

occurs very close to the coastline and contributes

195

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Figure 9. Monthly wage (in number of minimum wages) of recreational fishers affiliated to CLUPESIL based on 57 question-

naires answered in 2008 (NAp =not applicable; NAn =not answered). Minimum wage in 2008: R$ 415.00 (≈ USD

226.00).

50

40

30

20

10

0

1 2-5 6-10 11-20 > 20 NAn

Relative frequency (%)

Monthly wage

NAp

196 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

Figure 10. Standard hook size (mm) used during an interview with 57 recreational fishers from CLUPESIL in 2008 (A); hook

size that these fishers declared to use during competitive fishing events (white columns) and outside competitive events

(gray columns) (B). Each fisher could choose more than one hook size.

Figure 11. Preferred fishing ground declared by 57 recreational fishers affiliated to CLUPESIL in 2008 (Ilhéus, southern Bahia).

S, D, and N correspond to southern, downtown, and northern beaches, respectively.

0

10

20

30

40

50

3/0 2/0 1/0 0246810121424

Hook size

B

Relative frequency (%)

A

Acuípe (S)

Southern beaches (S)

Lençóis (S)

Velhos Marinheiros (D)

Northern beaches (N)

Cururupe (S)

Olivença (S)

Praia do Cristo (D)

Pé de Serra (N)

Ponta da Tulha (N)

BANEB (S)

Falafina (N)

Morro de Pernambuco (D)

Ilha do Desejo (S)

Jairi (S)

Pedra da Cachorra (S)

No preference

Relative frequency (%)

18

15

12

9

6

3

0

to decreasing fish abundance. On the other hand,

34% of them did not perceive any problems in

recreational fisheries. Other problems mentioned

were: pollution (7%), capture of small fish (5%),

and low fish abundance, ‘calão’ fishery, and

retreat of sea level (2% each).

DISCUSSION

Competitive fishing events and ichthyofauna

Our study allowed, for the first time, the iden-

tification of the catch composition of shore-

based fishing competition events in the state of

Bahia, indicating a typical surf zone ichthyofau-

na. The 47 species caught in competitive events

in Ilhéus represent a much higher number than

the 28 species reported by Freire et al. (2017) for

the state of Sergipe, the only known published

study that analyzed the species composition of

shore-based competitive events in northeastern

Brazil. This follows the general fish species

composition along the coast of these states as

presented by Froese and Pauly (2019), with

higher diversity reported for the state of Bahia

than for Sergipe. No reports of detailed species

composition for onshore competitive events in

higher latitudes of Brazil were found. However,

for Argentina, one can notice an even lower

number of species caught (12 species) as expect-

ed, with Cynoscion guatucupa (Cuvier, 1830)

and Micropogonias furnieri (Desmarest, 1823)

accounting for 80% of the catch (Llompart et al.

2012). These two species are also caught by

recreational fishers during onshore daily fishing

activities in southern Brazil (Peres and Klippel

2005), together with at least nine other species

that are also caught in Ilhéus (M. littoralis,G.

genidens,A. brasiliensis,Harengula clupeola

(Cuvier, 1829), Centropomus undecimalis

(Bloch, 1792), Caranx crysos (Mitchill, 1815),

T. goodei,Paralonchurus brasiliensis (Stein-

dachner, 1875), and Stellifer rastrifer (Jordan,

1889). There is also overlapping between

species/genera caught in competitive events

onshore in Ilhéus (shore-based) and in Guaratu-

ba Bay (boat-based): Larimus breviceps Cuvier,

1830, Genyatremus luteus (Bloch, 1790),

Diplectrum spp., Menticirrhus spp., Stellifer

spp., Eucinostomus spp., Selene spp., Centropo-

mus spp., Oligoplites spp., and Caranx spp.

(Henke and Chaves 2017). Considering that

many of these species are also caught in com-

mercial fisheries, it would be important to start

197

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

Figure 12. Fishing experience up to 2008 informed by 57 recreational fishers from CLUPESIL (Ilheús, southern Bahia): in gen-

eral (gray columns) and in competitive fishing events (white columns).

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

00-10

Relative frequency (%)

Fishing experience (years)

10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60

reporting recreational catches together with

commercial catches in national bulletins.

Many factors could have led to the formation

of three groups of beaches in the cluster analysis

performed here based on their catch composition

(north, south, and downtown). Praia do Espigão,

Praia da Avenida, and Praia dos Milionários are

three beaches representing a continuum located

downtown and, as such, were expected to have

similar catch composition. This area has been

experiencing retreat of the sea level and expan-

sion of the coastal line after the construction of

the Malhado Port finalized in 1971 (Franco et al.

2006). In this region, the direction of the long-

shore drift is northwards. Retreat of the sea level

was one of the reasons for concern stated by one

of the fishers interviewed. Praia de São Miguel

was also included in this group. Even though this

beach is not part of this continuum, being located

northwards from Malhado Port, it was included in

the downtown group. In this specific area, the

longshore drift is reversed, flowing southwards

(Nascimento et al. 2007), which could explain the

similarity in catch composition between Praia de

São Miguel and downtown beaches. This region

has also suffered strong erosion after the con-

struction of Malhado Port, and this process con-

tinues even after the installation of groins (Nasci-

mento and Lavenère-Wanderley 2006). The dis-

charge of Almada and Cachoeira rivers may con-

tribute to differences in catch composition in the

north and south, in relation to the downtown area,

as these are the two main rivers occurring in the

region (Moraes et al. 2009). However, no study

was found on local abundance of fish species in

such low depth zones as studied here. Moraes et

al. (2009) analysed the local demersal fish com-

position between 10 and 20 m isobaths. About

50% of species found in these lower depth zones

were also found in their study, with four of them

included in their list of the top fourteen most

abundant species: P. virginicus,P. brasiliensis,

Chilomycterus spinosus (Linnaeus, 1758), and L.

breviceps.

One commonality between competitive fishing

events in Ilhéus (southern Bahia) and Sergipe is

the presence of one species of catfish, along with

M. littoralis and P. virginicus in the list of the

most abundant species in the catch. However, cat-

fish species differed between states, with C. spixii

dominating in southern Bahia and Sciades proops

(Valenciennes, 1840) in Sergipe. Indeed, Marce-

niuk (2005) reported the occurrence of C. spixii

along the Brazilian coast down to the state of

Paraná, but S. proops only down to the state of

Pernambuco. Freire et al. (2017) extended its

occurrence southwards to the state of Sergipe, but

this species does not seem to occur in Bahia.

Comparison with competitive fishing events in

other areas in the state of Bahia is not possible as

catches are not reported by species, but only total

catch in number and weight. However, reports

from commercial catches for the central coast of

Bahia indicated the presence of C. spixii, but not

S. proops (Soares et al. 2009).

In relation to M. littoralis and P. virginicus, it

was observed that specimens caught during shore-

based competitive fishing events in the state of

Bahia were smaller than those caught in Sergipe,

with a much higher proportion of immature spec-

imens. Some of the members of the CLUPESIL

were aware of this issue and had been discussing

the possibility of setting a minimum fish size.

This was finally set in March 2014 at 15 cm

(Vilma Souza, CLUPESIL, pers. comm.). How-

ever, a minimum size of 15 cm would still result

in a large proportion of immature specimens. The

fishing club ASPA-BV (Associação de Pesca

Amadora Bons Ventos) in the state of Sergipe has

been adopting a minimum size since 2008, but it

kept alternating between 15 and 20 cm throughout

the years (Freire et al. 2014). Since 2014, the min-

imum size in Sergipe has been set at 15 cm

(Rodrigo Melins, ASPA-BV, pers. comm.). Con-

sidering that M. littoralis and P. virginicus are

commercially caught in both states (Thomé-

Souza et al. 2014), it is important that a minimum

size is properly defined to protect local stocks.

198 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 33 (2): 183-203 (2020)

The high number of small specimens is also

reflected in the general results presented, with a

mean weight of 39 g per fish (9-80 g). An

increasing trend in mean weight of fishes was

observed during the period of two years ana-

lyzed here but the reason behind this trend is

unknown. Freire (2005) found a decreasing trend

in the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, but data

analyzed comprised 25 years. There, the

decreasing trend could indicate the impact of

fishing in the region (all types) and other

anthropic factors. But here, the study period was

too short (2007-2008) to allow for the observa-

tion of such impacts. Thus, mean weight should

be monitored through time to detect possible

impacts after taking into account the effect of

introducing a minimum size in 2014, as previ-

ously stated. Fishes caught in Ilhéus were much

lighter than those caught in competitive events

in Sergipe, where mean weight varied from 21 to

918 g (Freire et al. 2014). Some of the rules of

CLUPESIL Championship favored the capture

of a large number of small fishes due to the

pointing system adopted at that time (each fisher

received three points per fish caught or five

points for fishes larger than 15 cm, plus one

point per 100 g or fraction above 50 g).

Only one ray was caught in Ilhéus during two

years of competitive events in opposition to 18

caught in Sergipe during one year (Freire et al

2017). This reduced number may be related to the

local low occurrence of rays, as commercial

catches for rays in Ilhéus corresponded to only

0.3% of total catches (CEPENE 2007) when com-

pared to 1.5% in Sergipe (Thomé-Souza et al.

2014). As the only specimen caught in Ilhéus was

not identified to the species level, we were not

able to explore this issue further due to the lack of

knowledge on the depth distribution of this

unknown species. However, considering rays are

K-strategists with slow maturation process,

reduced progeny and long life cycle, and thus

more prone to overfishing, reduced catches of

rays are very positive.

Profile of the recreational fishers

As in other states in Brazil (Basaglia and Vieira

2005; Freire 2005; Chiappani 2006), there was a

predominance of men in coastal recreational fish-

eries in Ilhéus, mainly with ages between 40 and

50. The same pattern was also observed in off-

shore recreational fisheries in northeastern Brazil

(Freire et al. 2018). In terms of wages, they were

similar to the coastal recreational fishers in Rio

Grande do Sul (Basaglia and Vieira 2005), but

much lower than in the state of Sergipe (Freire et

al. 2017) and Espírito Santo (Chiappani 2006).

Both in Sergipe and Bahia, fishers tended to

use larger hooks when not participating in com-

petitive events. The most striking difference was

the tendency of fishers in Sergipe to use larger

hooks (Freire et al. 2017) than in southern Bahia,

which was reflected in the size of the caught

specimens, as seen above. Similarly to Sergipe

(Freire et al. 2017), shrimps were the main bait

used and a very low proportion of fishers

declared using ghost shrimps (Callichirus spp.).

Thus, ghost shrimps may be closer to their unex-

ploited status in the region of Sergipe-Bahia (see,

e.g., Rosa et al. 2018). In the state of Paraná, on

the other hand, there was an intense exploitation

of ghost shrimps as bait in recreational fisheries

(Souza and Borzone 2003). Even though they

were still used in 2017, their participation was

much lower than shrimps (Henke and Chaves

2017). In some areas of the state of São Paulo,

their exploitation status has already led to the pro-

hibition of their capture as early as 1992 (Pedruc-

ci and Borges 2009). In 2000, Law N. 1792/2000

also prohibited their catch in Itapema (state of

Santa Catarina).

The long term experience of recreational fish-

ers affiliated to CLUPESIL of up to 55 years

allowed them to point out some of the problems

affecting the sector in Ilhéus. Fishers attributed

most of the problems to shrimp trawling, a view

shared with fishers from the state of Sergipe,

together with lack of fishes, which may actually

199

FREIRE ET AL.: COMPETITIVE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN BAHIA

be tightly linked to each other (Freire et al. 2017).

A large proportion of recreational fishers in

Ilhéus stated the habit of releasing small fishes.

However, this was not observed during competi-

tive events due to the pointing system that favors

the collection of small fishes. A minimum size

was established in March 2014, which has proba-

bly resulted in an increase of small fish release. In

Sergipe, the proportion of catch-and-release is

much smaller (Freire et al. 2017), probably asso-

ciated to the fact that fishers already use larger

hooks and have the habit of consuming their

catch, as observed in other regions in Brazil

(Freire et al. 2016).

As seen here, the profile of recreational fishers

in Ilhéus is similar to other regions but some fish-

ing habits in competitive events indicated a ten-

dency towards catching very small fishes. Even

though a minimum catch size of 15 cm was more

recently introduced, this may not be enough to

protect juveniles of some species of commercial

interest. Increasing to 20 cm may be better suited

considering the presence of a large proportion of

juveniles from some of the top-ten species caught

in competitive events, which are also of commer-

cial interest. This could be accomplished by

using larger hooks. The effect of these measures

should be closely monitored considering the

absence of studies on hook size selectivity and

post-release mortality for most of these species,

particularly in this region. Events that took place

in downtown Ilhéus led to the capture of speci-

mens with the lowest mean individual weight.

We suggest that these beaches be removed from

the annual circuit.

The information presented here is expected to

serve as a baseline to assess changes through time

in the catch composition of competitive fishing

events in Ilhéus and in the mean size of fishes

caught. Many factors could have affected the

results presented here, such as local temperature

and salinity, time of the day that fishing events

took place, and category of these events (with

one, two or three participants), but this may

require a longer study period for all these vari-

ables to be elucidated. We hope this study will

trigger future efforts to answer these questions

and also to update the profile of recreational fish-

ers on key issues such as license acquisition,

catch-and-release habits, changes in hook sizes

and baits used, and gender disparity of fishers and

their age structure, which could indicate if there is

a trend (or not) of younger generations in not get-

ting involved with recreational fishing. Finally,

studies on hook size selectivity are strongly

encouraged to assess the effect of the minimum

size introduced and any proposed changes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank the Clube de Pesca de

Ilhéus (CLUPESIL) and its recreational fishers

for allowing access to fishes caught in competi-

tive fishing events, particularly to R. Mendonça

and C.J.G. Almeida. M.F. Rhem identified all

species caught by common names. R. Melins, V.

Souza, and F. Gomes clarified issues related to

recreational fisheries in Sergipe and Bahia during

the production of this manuscript. L.C. da Rosa

prepared the map of the study area. This work

was supported by the National Council for the

Scientific and Technological Development –

CNPq (Edital Universal #478422/2006-7).

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