Distribution and concentration of Dosidicus gigas (d’Orbigny, 1835) in the Peruvian sea and adjacent waters

Abstract

Mariátegui L, Sanjinez M, Taipe A, Yamashiro C. 2018. Distribution and concentration of Dosidicus gigas (d’Orbigny, 1835) in the Peruvian sea and adjacent waters. Bol Inst Mar Peru. 33(2): 178-211.- This paper analyzes the industrial fishery of the jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Peruvian sea and adjacent waters, in the period 1991-2011, and the characteristics of their distribution, concentration, spatial and temporal variations,  based on the information from the monitoring carried out by the Peruvian Marine Research Institute (Imarpe in Spanish). The total catch of jumbo flying squid shows two periods of high abundance, the first from 1991 to 1995, and the second from 1999 to 2014 (jigger vessels fleet operated until 2011), with a maximum catch of 559,000 tons in 2008. In the first period, the industrial fleet registered 83.1% of the total catch, while in the second period it was 14.4%. Fishing effort also presented two well-defined periods, between 1991 and 1995 worked 31 to 77 vessels per month and between 1999 and 2007, from 5 to 48 vessels. The highest CPUE values
were registered in autumn-winter, except in 2001 when the values were higher in summer. The industrial fleet worked between 20 and 200 nm off the Peruvian sea in the period 1991-2010 and from 80 to 200 nm from 2010; according to the distribution of this resource, the fleet moved along the Peruvian coast, and sometimes
they operated in adjacent waters too. The highest concentrations were from the Peruvian northern border to
the 09°S and from 11 to 17°S.