MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

https://doi.org/10.47193/mafis.3412021010303

ABSTRACT. This study analyzed the profile of recreational fishers on-site in Ilhéus, northeast-

ern Brazil, their fishing habits, and catch composition. Interviews were conducted along the coast

of Ilhéus from December 2006 to December 2008 with all fishers encountered and their catch iden-

tified and measured. A total of 227 fishers were interviewed in 23 days. Most of the interviewees

were men (93.4%), residing in Ilhéus (84.9%). They preferred fishing in the morning, weekends,

and summer. Shrimp was the main bait used. Fishers were generalists, but most of the catch included

Polydactylus virginicus, Ariidae, and Menticirrhus littoralis. Catches observed during the inter-

views allowed to estimate an annual catch of 1.4 t. A proportion of 88% of fishers practiced catch-

and-release, mainly small fishes. Only 10% of them carried license for recreational fishing and

about 5.3% were members of fishing clubs. This provides a unique opportunity to compare our

results with those from another study conducted in the same locality during the same period with

members of fishing clubs. These fishers used very small hooks during competitive events, which

resulted in the capture of smaller fishes than was reported here on-site. This study sets a baseline to

analyze temporal changes in fishing habits and catch.

Key words: Sport fishery, recreational fishing, coastal fishery, catch composition, demographic

profile, northeastern Brazil.

Información de base in situ sobre la pesca recreativa costera y comparación con eventos com-

petitivos en Ilhéus, sur de Bahía, Brasil

RESUMEN. Este estudio analizó el perfil de los pescadores recreativos in situ en Ilhéus, noreste

de Brasil, sus hábitos de pesca y la composición de las capturas. Se realizaron entrevistas a lo largo

de la costa de Ilhéus desde diciembre de 2006 a diciembre de 2008 con todos los pescadores encon-

trados y su captura fue identificada y medida. Se entrevistó a un total de 227 pescadores en 23 días.

La mayoría de los entrevistados eran hombres (93,4%), residentes en Ilhéus (84,9%). Preferían pes-

car por la mañana, los fines de semana y el verano. El camarón fue el cebo principal utilizado. Los

pescadores eran generalistas, pero la mayor parte de la captura incluía Polydactylus virginicus,

Ariidae y Menticirrhus littoralis. Las capturas observadas durante las entrevistas permitieron esti-

mar una captura anual de 1,4 t. Una proporción del 88% de los pescadores practicó la captura y libe-

ración, principalmente de peces pequeños. Solo el 10% de ellos tenía licencia para la pesca recrea-

tiva y alrededor del 5,3% eran miembros de clubes de pesca. Esto brinda una oportunidad única para

comparar nuestros resultados con los de otro estudio realizado en la misma localidad durante el

mismo período con miembros de clubes de pesca. Estos pescadores utilizaron anzuelos muy peque-

ños durante los eventos competitivos, lo que resultó en la captura de peces más pequeños de lo que

se informó aquí in situ. Este estudio establece una línea de base para analizar los cambios tempora-

les en los hábitos de pesca y la captura.

5

*Correspondence:

kmffreire2018@gmail.com

Received: 26 October 2020

Accepted: 14 December 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

Marine and

Fishery Sciences

MAFIS

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Baseline on-site information on coastal recreational fishery and comparison

with competitive events in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, Brazil

KÁTIA MEIRELLES FELIZOLA FREIRE1, 2, * and GECELY RODRIGUES ALVES ROCHA1

1Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Campus Soane Nazaré de Andrade, Rodovia Jorge Amado, km 16 - Salobrinho, Ilhéus - Bahia - Brazil,

CEP: 45662-900. 2Departamento 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 - Sergipe - Brazil, CEP 49100-000

INTRODUCTION

Recreational fishery is defined as ‘fishing of

aquatic animals (mainly fish) that do not consti-

tute the individual’s primary resource to meet

basic nutritional needs and are not generally sold

or otherwise traded on export, domestic or black

markets’ (FAO 2012). This definition is also valid

for Brazil, except that recreational catch selling is

not allowed in any circumstance (MPA/MMA

2012). Catches originating from recreational fish-

eries should be added to those commercial fish-

eries to better access the status of main stocks

throughout their distribution areas. A recent ini-

tiative, using all possible data sources available

from recreational fisheries estimated that around

0.9 million tonns were extracted from marine

waters around the globe in 2014 (Freire et al.

2020). This estimate may be low when compared

to those from commercial fisheries, which

accounted for 93.4 million tonns in the same year

(FAO 2016), but it is always important to point

out that recreational catches might surpass com-

mercial catches for some resources in certain

areas (Coleman et al. 2004).

The main challenge in compiling catch data

from recreational fisheries is its geographically

disperse nature, with recreational fishers looking

for remote areas to get better fishing experiences.

Many recent initiatives have been trying to recov-

er past information on catches using the most

diverse types of data (see, e.g., Espedido et al.

2014; Belhabib et al. 2016; Babali et al. 2018).

Competitive fishing events are particularly

important to provide at least some initial informa-

tion for certain places on who is fishing, what is

fished, how are they fishing and how large are

their catches, as these events represent a concen-

tration of fishers and data (Schramm Jr. and Har-

rison 2008; Freire et al. 2016). However, catches

originating from competitive fishing events rep-

resent only a partial picture. Moreover, fishers’

behavior during these events and outside the

events may differ.

Freire et al. (2020) analyzed the profile of

recreational fishers in Ilhéus (2006-2008), in

southern Bahia, as well as their fishing habits,

using information collected during competitive

fishing events. This area is particularly important

as it lodges the second oldest fishing club in

Bahia, Clube de Pesca de Ilhéus (CLUPESIL),

founded in 1975 (Freire 2010), which is very

active in promoting competitive events. The pres-

ent paper aimed at describing the profile of recre-

ational fishers in Ilhéus fishing outside competi-

tive fishing events (hereafter called on-site) dur-

ing the same period (2006-2008), and at compar-

ing the fishing habits and catch composition on-

site with those of competitive events. Data ana-

lyzed here do not provide information on the sta-

tus of local recreational coastal fisheries, but pro-

vide a valuable source of baseline information

that can be used to compare with more current

data to assess possible changes after 12 years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

During this study, the northern, central, and

southern coast of Ilhéus were visited alternatively

once a month from December 2006 to December

2008 (Figure 1). Central beaches are located in a

very urbanized area separated from the northern

beaches by the estuary of Almada River and from

the southern beaches by the estuary of Cachoeira

River. Visits started at the beginning of the day

(the earliest was at 8:47 am) and would not end

until the last kilometer of beach was visited (the

latest was at 5:47 pm). No attempt was done to

6MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

Palabras clave: Pesca deportiva, pesca recreacional, pesca costera, composición de la captura, perfil demográfico, noreste de Brasil.

cover nocturnal fishing activities due to the

remoteness of fishing areas and safety issues.

Survey days were not randomly chosen due to

logistic reasons, but there were interviews in all

days of the week, except for Tuesdays. Every

time one or a group of recreational fishers was

spotted at the beach (on-site), using binoculars,

our team interviewed all of them making use of a

questionnaire with closed- and open-ended ques-

tions to obtain demographic data and information

on fishing habits. Moreover, we identified and

measured all fishes caught on-site. Demographic

questions included age, sex, occupation, and

place of residence. In terms of fishing habits,

questions were related to participation in fishing

clubs, acquisition (or not) of recreational fishing

license, target species, type and number of fishing

gears used, bait, and hook size. For the hook size,

we used a model where all sizes available in the

market for coastal recreational fishers were glued

onto a metallic plate to avoid problems with the

size definition among different hook brands. Pre-

ferred time of the day, day of the week, and

month to go fishing were also included, as well as

the preferred fishing site. Catch-and-release

habits and the destination of those specimens

retained (consumption, donation, or sale) were

also questioned. Finally, fishers were asked to

relate the main problems observed with recre-

ational fisheries in the region.

Additionally, fishers were asked about the

number of fishes caught by species’ common

name up to the moment of the interview and if the

individuals were released or not. If not, all speci-

mens were measured on-site (total length – TL,

cm) or weighed (total weight – TW, g) and these

measurements were converted into each other

using weight-length relationships (WLRs) avail-

able in FishBase (Froese and Pauly 2019) for the

same (or the closest possible) region. The catch

7

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA

Figure 1. Map showing Ilhéus and the main fishing sites located between Itacaré and Canavieiras, in southern Bahia.

observed during the 23 days of interviews was

used to estimate a daily catch, which was then uti-

lized to calculate catch for one year using a sim-

ple extrapolation: daily catch (total observed

catch/number of survey days) ×365 days. No

attempt was done to consider differences among

fishing sites (northern, central, or southern beach-

es) or different days of the week, due to the

reduced sampling effort.

RESULTS

Our team conducted 264 interviews in 23 dif-

ferent days with 227 recreational fishers. These

interviews were almost equally divided between

weekdays and weekends (Table 1). Results pre-

sented from demographic questions and fishing

habits are related only to these 227 fishers, but

catch rates are related to all 264 interviews. Most

of the interviewees were men (93.4%). Some of

them were interviewed more than once (1, 2, 3 or

6 times). Only 10% of the fishers carried a recre-

ational fishing license and about 5.3% were mem-

bers of fishing clubs. A proportion of 84.9% of

the interviewed fishers were residents of Ilhéus

(in the state of Bahia) and 97.5% residents of

Bahia (including Belmonte, Itabuna, Itapetinga,

Jacobina, Porto Seguro, and Salvador, besides

Ilhéus). The remaining fishers lived in Brasília

(capital of Brazil), Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro,

and Pernambuco. In terms of occupation, inter-

viewees were either retired (16%), vendors

(12%), security officers (7%), public servants

(5%), students (5%), or construction workers

(4%). The sector is highly diverse with another 44

occupations reported.

Recreational fishers in Ilhéus usually do not

have specific target species (92%). Carangids

(jack, pompano, and Atlantic pumper), barbu, and

snook were the mostly cited among those who

have targets. An extremely low number of fishers

(one or two fishers) target ray, mojarra, shark, cat-

fish, and weakfish. The most common fishing gear

used was reel (90% of all fishers), followed by

handline, pole and line, and spear (Table 2). Those

using reels kept one (71% of fishers), two (24%),

or three (5%) lines in the water at the same time.

Recreational fishers use a variety of hook sizes,

from exceptionally large, including those used by

commercial fishers (>3/0), to exceptionally small

(24, called unha de gato) (Figure 2). Many fishers

chose hook sizes in between standard sizes pro-

vided as samples in a showcase metallic plate. A

proportion of 62% of the recreational fishers inter-

8MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

Table 1. Number of interview days (N) conducted on-site by day of the week with recreational fishers in Ilhéus, southern Bahia,

from December 2006 to December 2008 and the minimum, mean and maximum number of fishers interviewed.

Day of week N Minimum Mean Maximum

Monday 2 4 8 11

Tuesday 0 ― ― ―

Wednesday 1 18 18 18

Thursday 8 1 10 20

Friday 1 1 1 1

Saturday 7 5 15 24

Sunday 4 2 12 24

Total 23 1 12 24

viewed on-site stated that they use size 5 hooks or

larger and 38% said they use smaller than size 5.

These results differed from the statements present-

ed by recreational fishers interviewed by Freire et

al. (2020) in Ilhéus during competitive fishing

events taking place in the same period. A propor-

tion of 50% of those fishers stated the use of size

5 hooks or larger when fishing outside competi-

tive events and 50% used hooks smaller than size

5 (Figure 2). Finally, those same fishers used

smaller hook sizes during competitive events,

which is reflected in a reverse proportion (5% for

size 5 hooks and larger, and 95% for hooks small-

er than size 5; Figure 2). Crustaceans (87.9%),

fishes (10%), and mollusks (1.7%) were used as

bait by the interviewed fishers (Table 3). One fish-

er mentioned the use of beef as bait. Among the

crustaceans, shrimps were the most common

(77.8%), followed by ghost shrimps (7.5%). All

the remaining types contributed less than 5%.

When asked to state the preferred time of the

day to go fishing, 67% of the fishers mentioned

the actual hour of the day and 33% said it depends

on the tide. Those who stated by time, preferred

going fishing during the morning (6 am to noon;

9

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA

Figure 2. Standard hook size (mm) provided as samples in a showcase metallic plate used during on-site interviews with recre-

ational fishers in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2006-2008 (A); hook size that these on-site fishers stated using in their daily

activities (black columns) (B). For comparison purposes, hook size that fishers interviewed in competitive events men-

tioned using during their daily recreational activities (grey column) and in competitive events were included (modified

from Freire et al. 2020).

Table 2. Gear types used by recreational fishers in Ilhéus,

southern Bahia, interviewed between 2006 and 2008.

Gear Proportion (%)

Spinning reel (molinete) 80.4

Reel (carretilha) 9.8

Handline 5.3

Mixed 2.2

Pole and line 1.8

Spear 0.4

3/0

2/0

1/0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

10

12

14

15

16

24

Hook size

0

10

20

30

40

50

Frequency (%)

On-site Recreational Competition

B

A

>3/0

Figure 3 A). Preference decreases in the afternoon

and even further at night (Figure 3 A). Those who

stated by tide, preferred going fishing mainly dur-

ing flushing and breaking tides (Figure 3 B).

Fishers would preferentially fish during week-

ends, despite the occurrence of fishing activities

throughout the week (Figure 4 A). Even though

fishers stated they could go fishing all year round,

there was a preference for the summer (December

until February; Figure 4 B). In general, most

10 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

Table 3. Bait types mentioned by recreational fishers interviewed on-site in Ilhéus from December 2006 to December 2008. N

=number of times each bait type was mentioned (each fisher could list up to three types) and P =proportion (%). Bold

numbers =sum of frequencies for each large group.

Portuguese English Taxon N P (%)

common name common name

Crustaceans 87.9

Camarão Shrimp Penaeidae Rafinesque, 1815 160 66.9

Camarão branco, White shrimp Litopenaeus schmitti (Burkenroad, 1936) 16 6.7

branco de rio,

branco do mangue

Camarão rosa, Pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus spp. Burukovsky, 1997 5 2.1

camarão rosinha

Camarão sete barbas Atlantic seabob Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Heller, 1862) 5 2.1

Corrupto Ghost shrimp Callianassidae Dana, 1852 18 7.5

Siri mole Swimming crab Portunidae Rafinesque, 1815 4 1.7

Tatuí, tatuzinho Sand crab Hippidae Latreille, 1825 2 0.8

Fishes 10.0

Peixe, peixe pequeno, Fish Actinopterygii 10 4.2

peixe vivo

Sardinha Sardine Clupeidae Cuvier, 1816 4 1.7

Manjuba Anchovy Engraulidae Gill, 1861 3 1.3

Cascudo False herring Harengula clupeola (Cuvier, 1829) 3 1.3

Tainha Mullet Mugil spp. Linnaeus, 1758 2 0.8

Barbudo Threadfin Polydactylus sp. Lacepède, 1803 1 0.4

Carapicu Mojarra Eucinostomus sp. Baird and Girard, 1855 1 0.4

Mollusks 1.7

Lula Squid Myopsida 3 1.3

Polvo Octopus Octopoda Leach, 1818 1 0.4

Others 0.4

Carne Beef ― 1 0.4

Total 239 100.0

fishers preferred going fishing in southern beach-

es – SB (57%), followed by northern beaches −

NB (25%), and central beaches − CB (18%) (Fig-

ure 5). More particularly, the following localities

were the most cited: Morro de Pernambuco (CB),

Falafina (NB), Lençóis (SB), and Acuípe (SB)

(Figure 5). Two fishers preferred fishing offshore

and one in rivers, and eleven of them had no pref-

erence. A total of 85% of all fishers consume their

catch, 22% donate, and 1% sell it. About 2% of

11

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA

Figure 3. Preferred time of the day to go fishing stated by recreational fishers on-site in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2006-2008.

A) By hour. B) By tide.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Depend on tide

Low tide

Breaking tide

High tide

Flushing tide

Absolute frequency

B

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

4 5 6 7 8 9 1011121314151617181920212223

Absolute frequency

Hour of the day

A

Figure 4. Days of week (A) (Monday to Sunday) and months of the year (B) (January to February) that recreational fishers stated

they prefer to go fishing in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2006-2008.

AB

0

40

80

120

160

200

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Absolute frequency

Day

0

50

100

150

200

250

JFMAMJJASOND

Absolute frequency

Month

12 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

Figure 5. Preferred fishing sites stated by recreational fisheries interviewed on-site in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2006-2008.

Itacaré

Morro do Siriaco

Itacarezinho

Serra Grande

Praia de Pé de Serra

Praia do Sargi

Praia dos Coqueiros

Praia de Mamoã

Praia do Ramo

Ponta da Tulha

Vila Barra Mares

Condomínio Paraíso das Águas

Condomínio Mar e Sol

Condomínio Japará

S o Domingosã

Iguape

Falafina

S o Miguelã

Espig o/Porto de Ilhéusã

Praia da Avenida

Oiteiro

Cristo

Col nia de Pesca do Pontalô

Morro de Pernambuco

Opaba

Nelson Costa

Hotel Jardim Atl nticoâ

Condomínio Mar à Vista

Praia dos Milionários

Clube dos Pescadores

Praia de Cururupe

Pedra da Cachorra

Praia do BANEB

Pousada Ecológica

Condomínio Mar de Ilhéus

Stac Camping

Condomínio Porto da Lancha

Praia de Olivença

Backdoor

Praia de Batuba

Praia de Siriyba

Praia do Jairi

Acuípe

Lençóis

Una/Pedra de Una

Comandatuba

Pousada Costa do Sul

Canavieiras

Absolute frequency

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Northern beaches

Central beaches

Southern beaches

them never caught a fish. Finally, 88% of the fish-

ers interviewed released fishes in the following

cases: small size (71%), catfish (7%), pufferfish

(3%), spawners (1%), and others (4%; including

small catfish, ray, snook during the spawning

period, large snapper, mullet, mackerel, bonefish,

and turtle). Some fishers released fishes in more

than one of these cases.

Main problems mentioned by recreational fish-

ers interviewed on-site were shrimp and ‘calão’

fisheries (shore-based trawl fishery), which lead

to decreasing abundance of fishes (Figure 6). The

decreasing abundance was also associated to pol-

lution in its diverse forms (on the beach sand,

sewage, rivers, etc.) and to predatory fishery in

general (no mention about type of predatory fish-

ery). All remaining problems were cited by five

or less fishers. It is worth mentioning that global

warming was pointed out as one of the problems,

as well as decreasing water temperature caused

by changes in circulation. These last changes may

be associated to the port construction and place-

ment of groins close to the port area, which were

both mentioned as problems as well (Figure 6).

A total of 367 fishes were caught by recreation-

al fishers during this study, corresponding to

87.5 kg. This led to an estimated mean annual

catch by shore-based recreational fishers of 1.4 t

(estimated on-site). This could be considered an

underestimate as it does not consider fishes

caught by the same fishers after our interview or

by those fishers who may have arrived after our

interview was conducted. A total of 23 taxa were

reported during the interviews, with the most

abundant being Polydactylus virginicus (Lin-

naeus, 1758), Ariidae Bleeker, 1858, Menticir-

rhus littoralis (Holbrook, 1847), Trachinotus

goodei Jordan and Evermann, 1896, Trachinotus

spp. Lacepède, 1801, and Eucinostomus spp.

Baird and Girard, 1855 (Table 4). Some of the

individuals could not be identified at species level

as they were returned to the sea or due to lack of

laboratory infrastructure on-site. A proportion of

87% of all P. virginicus measured were below the

maturity size of 22.1 cm estimated by Freire et al.

(2020). Similar proportion of M. littoralis (85%)

13

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA

Figure 6. Problems that local recreational fisheries have been facing during the last years according to recreational fishers inter-

viewed on-site in Ilhéus, southern Bahia, in 2006-2008. IBAMA =Brazilian Institute for the Environment and

Renewable Natural Resources.

0102030405060708090

Absolute frequency

Light close to shore

Fish abundance was always low

Capture ban for some species

Fishing boat traffic

Fishing gear theft

IBAMA neglect

Incidental catch of turtles

Need for catch and release--

Wind

Port and groin ('espigão')

Changes in temperature (higher or lower)

Gillnet

Decreasing fish quality and size

Increasing number of people and urbanization

Predatory fishery

Pollution

Decreasing abundance

Shrimp and 'calão' trawling

14 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

Table 4. Species caught by recreational fishers along the coast of Ilhéus, Bahia, between 2006 and 2008. Species identification based on Freire et al. (2020)

or on-site. ‘Outros’ (others) includes the following species that could not be identified: pampoleta, sargentinho, aracanguira listada ou capiassava, sa-

nhoá, carapitanga, corongo, barbudo galha preta, brasileirinha, and peixe ornamental. Total weight refers to all specimens caught. *Disk width.

Common name Species/higher taxon N Released Consumed/ Total length (cm) Weight

in Portuguese (%) bait (%) mean (min-max) (kg)

Barbudo Polydactylus virginicus (Linnaeus, 1758) 110 10.0 0.9 21.4 (10.8-29.0) 10.336

Bagre branco/amarelo/cinza/ Ariidae 81 40.7 7.4 21.6 (10.0-52.0) 14.627

alumínio

Corre costa Menticirrhus littoralis (Holbrook, 1847) 59 20.3 1.7 24.1 (16.0-33.0) 6.217

Pampo galhudo/aratobaia Trachinotus goodei 21 14.3 0.0 16.9 (12.5-27.8) 1.198

Jordan and Evermann, 1896

Outros Actinopterygii 13 46.2 0.0 40.7 (11.5-83.0) 3.077

Pampo Trachinotus spp. Lacepède, 1801 13 0.0 30.8 20.8 (10.7-42.0) 2.151

Carapicu Eucinostomus spp. Baird and Girard, 1855 10 0.0 60.0 12.8 (10.5-15.0) 0.265

Robalo Centropomus spp. Lacepède, 1802 9 0.0 0.0 31.8 (17.0-40.0) 4.462

Bagre fidalgo/bagre de fita Bagre spp. Cloquet, 1816 8 0.0 0.0 34.9 (23.0-49.0) 2.548

Pirambu Anisotremus surinamensis (Bloch, 1791) 6 0.0 0.0 20.2 (18.0-27.5) 1.414

Xaréu Caranx latus Agassiz, 1831 6 0.0 33.3 64.0 (42.0-82.3) 18.435

Corre costa (similar to) Ophioscion punctatissimus 4 0.0 0.0 16.7 (15.5-19.0) 0.218

Meek and Hildebrand, 1925

Cação Selachimorpha (Pleurotremata) 4 0.0 0.0 43.9 (42.3-46.8) 1.689

Aracanguira Carangidae Rafinesque, 1815 3 0.0 0.0 21.6 (16.1-25.6) 0.400

Arraia/arraia verdadeira Dasyatidae Jordan and Gilbert, 1879 3 0.0 0.0 51.8 (35.0-68.9)* 15.562

Carapicu branco Eucinostomus melanopterus (Bleeker, 1863) 3 0.0 0.0 13.3 (12.5-14.0) 0.078

Sauara Genyatremus luteus (Bloch, 1790) 3 0.0 0.0 29.6 (23.7-35.0) 1.698

Baiacu Tetraodontiformes 3 100.0 0.0 ― ―

Pampo verdadeiro/ Trachinotus carolinus (Linnaeus, 1766) 3 0.0 0.0 26.9 (19.6-33.5) 0.791

pampo espinha mole

Mero gato Serranidae Swainson, 1839 2 0.0 0.0 11.4 (9.2-13.5) 0.048

Cabeçudo Caranx crysos (Mitchill, 1815) 1 0.0 0.0 17.5 0.067

Moré Labrisomus nuchipinnis 1 0.0 0.0 15.1 0.050

(Quoy and Gaimard, 1824)

Sororoca Scomberomorus brasiliensis 1 0.0 0.0 68.0 2.223

Collette et al., 1978

Total 367 18.3 5.4

was also below the maturity size of 23 cm esti-

mated by Braun and Fontoura (2004). No infor-

mation published on maturity size was found for

T. goodei.

About 18.3% of the 367 fishes registered were

released and 5.4% were consumed on-site or were

used as bait. Ten to forty per cent of the four most

abundant taxa were released and 30-60% of the

last two taxa were consumed or used as bait

(Table 4). All pufferfishes were released. Total

length of fishes ranged from 9.2 (Serranidae

Swainson, 1839) to 83.0 cm (unidentified ‘coron-

go’, Actinopterygii), with a mean length of 23.5

cm TL.

DISCUSSION

A total of 5.3% of the interviewees were mem-

bers of fishing clubs, thus a different group was

reached in this study than in that carried out by

Freire et al. (2020) in the same period. This is a

unique opportunity to check for differences

and/or communalities between these two studies.

Many features are similar, including mean age,

predominance of men, fishing habits (main bait

used, preferred time and day of the week for fish-

ing), and problem perception (Table 5). However,

there is one main difference that leads to impor-

tant divergences: the proportion of fishers with-

out a fishing license was remarkably high (90%)

in this study, which contrasts with the 0% of those

interviewed during competitive fishing events in

Ilhéus (Table 5). This happens because these

events, promoted by the Clube de Pesca de Ilhéus

(CLUPESIL), are officially recognized by the

Brazilian Confederation of Fishing and Underwa-

ter Sports (CBPDS), and this Confederation

requires that each participant presents his/her

national recreational fishing license. Some impor-

tant implications arise from such a low proportion

of fishers on-site carrying a fishing license, as it

makes evident that the licensing system currently

in place in Brazil does not include many recre-

ational fishers. Thus, any fishing estimates using

information obtained merely from questionnaires

filled when acquiring this license may be biased

despite attempts to correct for the actual number

of fishers (see, e.g., Freire and Sumaila 2019).

Additionally, fishers interviewed during com-

petitive events (Freire et al. 2020) stated they

used medium sized hooks outside competitive

events, similar to those interviewed on-site, but

very small hooks during competitive events. This

occurs because the pointing system adopted in

these events favors the number of specimens

caught over individual weight (Freire et al. 2020).

Indeed, the maximum weight of fishes caught in

competitive events (670 g) was smaller than the

mean weight observed on-site (735 g; maximum

=10,000 g), where fishers used exceptionally

large hooks (even larger than the samples present-

ed which correspond to those used by commercial

fishers).

In competitive events that took place in Ilhéus

in 2007-2008, Cathorops spixii (Agassiz, 1829)

catches were more abundant (Freire et al. 2020).

In our study conducted on-site in the same munic-

ipality and in the same period, ariids ranked sec-

ond in number but it was not possible to identify

all species caught within this group. Even though

C. spixii is commonly cited in ichthyofaunal sur-

veys along the Brazilian coast and commercial-

ized in some areas (Fávaro et al. 2005), ariids in

general were not appreciated by local recreational

fishers for consumption (personal observation),

with about 41% of them being releasing. Catfish-

es are seen as food taboo together with other

scaleless fishes (Hanazaki and Begossi 2006).

Even though reasons for releasing were not

specifically included in the interview, it may be

related to the detritivore diet associated to its ben-

thic habitat (Hanazaki and Begossi 2006), as stat-

ed by some fishers during the interview. On the

other hand, P. virginicus was ranked first on-site,

being highly appreciated for consumption and

hence only 10% of them were released. Ariids

15

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA

and P. virginicus were also among the dominant

catches by coastal recreational fishers in Sergipe

(Freire et al. 2017) together with M. littoralis. To

the best of our knowledge, there is no information

published for other states in northeastern Brazil

on coastal recreational fisheries other than the

ones cited here for Sergipe and Bahia.

A high proportion of M. littoralis (about 20%)

was released by fishers interviewed in Ilhéus in

this study. Considering that P. virginicus and M.

littoralis are appreciated for consumption, they

were probably released due to small size. Even

though these species are listed among the most

abundant in the catches sampled on-site, fishers

are generalists as 92% had no target species. A

total of 22 taxa were reported in this study

(among species, family, and order) and one cate-

gory named ‘others’ (including nine species

reported by common name but not properly iden-

tified). Only five of these species/group of

species were also reported for commercial fish-

eries (CEPENE, 2007): ‘arraia’ (ray), ‘bagre’

(catfish), ‘cação’ (shark), ‘robalo’ (snook), and

‘xaréu’ (jack). This indicates an extra pressure on

these same resources. The fact that 15 other

species caught by recreational fishers were not

individually reported in catch statistics of com-

mercial fisheries does not imply lack of overlap-

ping. Instead, these species may be recorded

along with others under the category ‘outros’

(others), revealing difficulties raised by the rich-

ness of names in catch statistics again (Freire and

Pauly, 2005). Studies on coastal recreational fish-

eries are still rare in Brazil, but in some of them

16 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

Table 5. Comparison between features of recreational fisheries according to fishers interviewed on-site (this study) and in com-

petitive fishing events (modified from Freire et al. 2020) in Ilhéus, southern Bahia (2006-2008). *Value to the left cor-

responds to hook size used during competitive events and the one to the right when fishing outside competitive events.

**Percentage of fishers who stated the practice of catch-and-release, which differs from the proportion of fishes released

during our interviews (18.3%; Table 4).

Feature On-site Competitive events

Men (%) 93.4 75.0

Mean age (min-max) 43.7 (10-79) 41.1 (7-70)

Member of fishing clubs (%) 5.3 100

Fishing license (%) 10 100

Most cited hook size 4 (medium) 24 (small)/4 (medium)*

Main bait Shrimp Shrimp

Catch-and-release (%) 88** 98

Preferred fishing hour Morning Morning

Preferred fishing day Weekend Weekend

Preferred fishing month Summer (Dec-Feb) None

Preferred fishing site Morro de Pernambuco, Acuípe Acuípe

Main problem Shrimp/‘calão’ trawling Shrimp/‘calão’ trawling

Main species caught (% in number) Polydactylus virginicus (30) Cathorops spixii (33)

Fish mean size (min-max; cm) 23.5 (9.2-83.0) 11.8 (4.6-57.5)

Fish mean weight (min-max; g) 735.0 (11.0-10,000.0) 28.7 (0.9-670.0)

Number of interviewees 227 57

the same pattern was observed. In Santos (state of

São Paulo), in an inner region of the coast (Deck

do pescador), fifteen species were cited as target

by local recreational fishers, including Menticir-

rhus americanus (Linnaeus, 1758) and C. spixii

(Barrella et al. 2016). About 50 km to the south,

in the Plataforma Marítima de Pesca Amadora de

Mongaguá (state of São Paulo), about 55% of all

specimens caught were ariids, even though

Trichiurus lepturus was the main target (Alves

Junior et al. 2020). In sand beaches in southern

Paraná, Menticirrhus and ariids were the most

cited target by local recreational fishers, together

with at least eight other species (Henke and

Chaves 2017). In Cidreira (northern Rio Grande

do Sul), a large number of species was caught,

despite the dominance of sciaenids (Lewis et al.

1999). In Cassino Beach (southern Rio Grande do

Sul), differently from all these studies cited

above, recreational fishers are specialists target-

ing and catching mainly Menticirrhus spp.

(Basaglia and Vieira 2005). Even though a high

variety of species is caught by coastal recreation-

al fishers in Brazil, catches are usually dominated

by Menticirrhus and catfishes.

This study represents a further step towards

describing the coastal recreational fishery in

Ilhéus, providing historical information on the

demographics of its recreational fishers, their

fishing habits, and their catch rates. Considering

that recreational fisheries is a new research field

in Brazil, there are very few baseline studies

available in the country and the information pro-

vided here using data from 12 years ago could be

used to observe any changes. Thus, we noticed

that, at that time, on-site generalist recreational

fishers extracted around 1.4 t annually in Ilhéus.

Even though this estimate was low in relation to

commercial fisheries for the same period (about

110 t in 2005; CEPENE, 2007), it represents only

a partial portrait as nocturnal fisheries were

excluded from this analysis - no interview was

conducted between 6 pm and 6 am despite decla-

rations of some fishers about fishing during this

period (Figure 3). Similarly, catches from com-

petitive events, offshore activities, or spearfishing

were not included. Innovative ways of compiling

more complete information are required to better

describe recreational fisheries in Ilhéus and

Brazil as a whole in the near future. Despite the

increasing number of studies on recreational fish-

eries along the Brazilian coast, we are far from

properly covering even the most basic issues at

the national level, such as number of recreational

fisheries along the entire coast, main species

caught, and total catch.

Based on what was presented here, the first

question of the section entitled ‘resource monitor-

ing and data acquisition’, out of the 100 research

questions raised by Holder et al. (2020), ‘how do

we promote angler engagement in the provision of

reliable and accurate catch and effort informa-

tion?’, is valid for Brazil if we are to produce

catch statistics reflecting total extraction from

Brazilian marine waters. Modern tools are avail-

able to collect such information in a wider scale

and should be better explored and utilized here. If

we wait for local studies to be conducted along the

entire coast by a reduced number of researchers

working on recreational fisheries to be able to

accurately describe these Brazilian recreational

fisheries, it will take a long time to cover the entire

coast and all fishery types. Hence, we should start

thinking about mechanisms to better approach this

issue, perhaps by using all the technology current-

ly available to collect this information through

apps on a national scale, as we have already seen

in some isolated initiatives. In doing so, the recre-

ational sector could perform better than the com-

mercial sector in Brazil, for which the collection

of detailed catch statistics by species and state was

interrupted in 2007 (IBAMA 2007). Estimates of

Brazilian marine recreational catches produced by

Freire et al. (2020) could then be revisited in light

of a wider information base. Finally, recreational

fishers should understand the importance of

acquiring the fishing license and answer all ques-

tions that are part of the license in the best possi-

17

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA

ble way, as they provide valuable information for

establishing control and regulatory mechanisms.

Directing funds collected with the sale of these

fishing licenses to research, construction of public

ramps, educational programs for fishing guides,

mechanisms to register catches (landed and

released), among others, would encourage recre-

ational fishers to adhere to the licensing system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank all recreational fishers

interviewed during this study, who also allowed

us to measure their catch, and Juarez Rodrigues

da Silva and Felipe Pinto Nascimento for helping

with the interviews. Recreational fishers Fábio

Gomes and Rodrigo Melins clarified many issues

raised during the elaboration of this manuscript.

This study was supported by the National Council

for Scientific and Technological Development -

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

REFERENCES

ALVES JUNIOR UJM, ROTUNDO MM, PETRERE

JUNIOR M, BARRELLA W, RAMIRES M. 2020.

Recreational fishing on the maritime fishing

pier in Mongaguá (Brazil), Southwest

Atlantic. Res Soc Dev. 9 (9): e937998020.

BABALI N, KACHER M, BELHABIB D, LOUANCHI F,

PAULY D. 2018. Recreational fisheries eco-

nomics between illusion and reality: the case

of Algeria. PLoS ONE. 13 (8): e0201602.

BARRELLA W, CACHOLA N, RAMIRES M, ROTUNDO

MM. 2016. Aspectos biológicos e socioeconô-

micos da pesca esportiva no “deck do pesca-

dor” de Santos (SP, Brasil). Braz J Aquat Sci

Technol. 20 (1): 61-68.

BASAGLIA TP, VIEIRA JP. 2005. A pesca amadora

recreativa de caniço na Praia do Cassino, RS:

necessidade de informações ecológicas alia-

das à espécie alvo. Braz J Aquat Sci Technol.

9 (1): 25-29.

BELHABIB D, CAMPREDON P, LAZAR N, SUMAILA

UR, BAYE BC, KANE EA, PAULY D. 2016. Best

for pleasure, not for business: evaluating

recreational marine fisheries in West Africa

using unconventional sources of data. Pal-

grave Comm. 2 (1): 15050.

BRAUN AS, FONTOURA NF. 2004. Reproductive

biology of Menticirrhus littoralis in southern

Brazil (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Sci-

aenidae). Neotrop Ichthyol. 2 (1): 31-36.

CEPENE. 2007. Boletim estatístico da pesca marí-

tima e estuarina do Nordeste do Brasil - 2005.

Centro de Pesquisa e Gestão de Recursos Pes-

queiros do Litoral Nordeste, Tamandaré, Per-

nambuco, Brazil. 78 p.

COLEMAN FC, FIGUEIRA WF, UELAND JS, CROW-

DER LB. 2004. The impact of United States

recreational fisheries on marine fish popula-

tions. Science. 305 (5692): 1958-1960.

ESPEDIDO JC, PARDUCHO VA, YAP MA, PALO-

MARES MLD. 2014. The recreational marine

sport fisheries catch of the Philippines, 1950-

2010. In: PALOMARES MLD, PAULY D, editors.

Philippine marine fisheries catches: a bottom-

up reconstruction, 1950 to 2010. Fish Centre

Res Rep. 22 (1): 92-104.

[FAO] FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF

THE UNITED NATIONS. 2012. Recreational fish-

eries. FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsi-

ble Fisheries. Nº 13. Rome: FAO. 176 p.

[FAO] FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF

THE UNITED NATIONS. 2016. The state of world

fisheries and aquaculture 2016. Contributing

to food security and nutrition for all. Rome:

FAO. 200 p.

FÁVARO LF, FREHSE FA, OLIVEIRA RN, SCHWARZ

JR. R. 2005. Reprodução do bagre amarelo,

Cathorops spixii (Agassiz) (Siluriformes,

Ariidae), da Baía de Pinheiros, região estuari-

na do litoral do Paraná, Brasil. Rev Bras Zool.

22 (4): 1022-1029.

18 MARINE AND FISHERY SCIENCES 34 (1): 5-19 (2021)

FREIRE KMF. 2010. Unregulated catches from

recreational fisheries off northeastern Brazil.

Atlântica. 32 (1): 87-93.

FREIRE KMF, BELHABIB D, ESPEDIDO JC, HOOD L,

KLEISNER KM, LAM VWL, MACHADO ML,

MENDONÇA JT, MEEUWIG JJ, MORO PS, et al.

2020. Estimating global catches of marine

recreational fisheries. Front Mar Sci. 7: 12.

FREIRE KMF, LUZ RMCA, SANTOS ACG, OLIVEI-

RA CS. 2017. Analysis of the onshore compet-

itive recreational fishery in Sergipe. B Inst

Pesca. 43 (4): 487-501.

FREIRE KMF, PINTO NASCIMENTO F, ROCHA GRA.

2020. Shore-based competitive recreational

fisheries in southern Bahia, Brazil: a baseline

study. Mar Fish Sci. 33 (2): 183-203.

FREIRE KMF, PAULY D. 2005. Richness of com-

mon names of Brazilian marine fishes and its

effect on catch statistics. J Ethnobiol. 25 (2):

279-296.

FREIRE KMF, SUMAILA UR. 2019. Economic

potential of the Brazilian marine recreational

fishery. Bol Inst Pesca. 45 (1): e412.

FREIRE KMF, TUBINO RA, MONTEIRO-NETO C,

ANDRADE-TUBINO MF, BELRUSS CG, TOMÁS

ARG, TUTUI SLS, CASTRO PMG, MARUYAMA

LS, CATELLA AC, et al. 2016. Brazilian recre-

ational fisheries: current status, challenges and

future direction. Fish Manage Ecol. 23: 276-

290.

FROESE R, PAULY D. 2019. FishBase. Version

12/2019. [accessed retrieved 2019 March].

https://www.fishbase.org.

HANAZAKI N, BEGOSSI A. 2006. Catfish and mul-

lets: the food preferences and taboos of

caiçaras (southern Atlantic forest coast,

Brazil). Interciencia. 31 (2): 123-129.

HENKE JL, CHAVES PTC. 2017. Ictiofauna e pesca

amadora no litoral sul do Paraná: estudo de

caso sobre capturas e potencial impacto. Braz

J Aquat Sci Technol. 21 (1): 37-43.

HOLDER PE, JEANSON AL, LENNOX RJ, BROWNS-

COMBE JW, ARLINGHAUS R, DANYLCHUK AJ,

BOWER SD, HYDER K, HUNT LM, FENICHEL

EP, et al. 2020. Preparing for a changing future

in recreational fisheries: 100 research ques-

tions for global consideration emerging from a

horizon scan. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries. 30:

137-151.

[IBAMA] INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DO MEIO

AMBIENTE E DOS RECURSOS NATURAIS RENO-

VÁVEIS. 2007. Estatística da Pesca. 2007.

Grandes regiões e unidades da federação. Bra-

sília: IBAMA. 113.

LEWIS DS, BRAUN AS, FERREIRA NF. 1999. Rela-

tive seasonal fish abundance caught by recre-

ational fishery on Cidreira Pier, southern

Brazil. J Appl Ichthyol. 15: 149-151.

[MPA/MMA] MINISTÉRIO DA PESCA E AQUICUL-

TURA/MINISTÉRIO DO MEIO AMBIENTE. 2012.

Instrução Normativa Interministerial MPA/

MMA Nº 09, de 13 de junho de 2012. Estabe-

lece normas gerais para o exercício da pesca

amadora em todo o território nacional. Brasí-

lia: MPA/MMA

SCHRAMM JR. HL, HARRISON JC. 2008. Competi-

tive fishing and its role in recreational fish-

eries management. In: AAS O, editor. Global

challenges in recreational fisheries. Oxford:

Blackwell Publishing. p. 237-267.

19

FREIRE AND ROCHA: ON-SITE COASTAL RECREATIONAL FISHERY IN BAHIA