Catching of ornamental marine fishes in Ceará State, Brazil

Abstract

The ornamental marine fishes trade is expanding worldwide and, in Brazil, Ceará State appears as the major producer and exporter of marine species. This paper describes the capture of ornamental marine fishes in Ceará, handling methods, keeping and transport, and also identifying some of the fishing areas used by the vessels based on harbors in Fortaleza. Four journeys and 21 dives were monitored on the supplying boats as well as the production of 11 unloading procedures at the exporting companies between July and December, 1998. The catching occurred within 9 and 13 nautical miles, at depths ranging from 16 to 25 m, in gravel and rocky bottoms. The boat crew was composed by the captain, the “mangueireiro” (the hose manager – who controls the air compressor and air supply to the diver) and two divers. Fishing gear included, besides the diving equipment with a compressor, a small mesh casting-net and a large jug to keep the captured specimens. At the 11 monitored loading procedures, 12 species were collected, representing only 16% of the total number of species exported by the state of Ceará. The species Holacanthus ciliaris and Pomacanthus paru represented respectively 59.1% and 28.4% of the total of 1,564 fish caught. These results showed that both species are the most important in the local production, and that the companies possibly receive the production from other states for exportation.