Catch and fishing effort of the Peruvian anchoveta fishery (Engraulis ringens)

Abstract

The Peruvian anchoveta catches represent approximately 95% of the total hidrobiological marine resources. This magnitude and importance make necessary to develop a permanent study of different effort measures to be used as a tool for the fishing sector administration. The present work includes information of the Pursuit Plan on the Pelagic Fishery and Fishing Binnacles Project. The studied area is from Tumbes (3°24'S) to Tacna (18°21'S), until 200 nm offshore, and 100 fathoms depth. The main analyzed data are: anchovy catches, number of trips with anchovy capture, hours of trips and gross registration tonnage for craft (GRT). The GRT of each craft was multiplied by the respective hours of each trip to provide a new indicator of fishing effort GRT-HVJE (gross registration tonnage per hour of trip). Based on the previous information, monthly, seasonal and yearly serials of catches/effort indexes (CPUE) for the anchovy fishery were obtained, During 1999, a total of 797 industrial crafts were operated, the purse seinse fleet represented 87%. The stratum ofvessel capacity among 101 to 200 m³ was the most numerous and the stratum among 301 to 400 m³ was the more accumulated vessel capacity and it constitutes the fleet support, due to its great fishing power. The CPUE index (capt/Vje.stand) showed a recovery of the anchovy relative abundance levels in 1999. Likewise a new fishing effort unit (TRB-Hvje) was identified. It uses the trip hours as component of localization of the schools and the GRT (gross registration tonnage) as a component of the force and ability to capture the resource. This index obtained a high correlation with anchovy acoustic biomass. The use of this index could be used for detecting possible changes in the anchoveta populations abundance.