Trends in the fishery and catch patterns of kitefin shark, Dalatias licha (Bonaterre, 1788), from off Azores, through a GIS spatial analysis.

Abstract

During the last two decades the Azorean fishing community has profited from the kitefin shark fishery which in the year 2000 generated an estimated revenue of approximately €12,500. This resource has been targeted mainly by small fishing vessels operating in the Azores archipelago since the late 1970s. The vulnerability of this species to exploitation has raised the concern about the impact of the fishery on the resource. The monthly landings of three artisanal fishing vessels were monitored and possible changes to kitefin shark abundance and catch pattern, for the period between 1986 and 1998, were geographically analysed. A vector-based GIS (Geographic Information System) was constructed to evaluate the changes in the number of individuals captured and squalene oil barrels obtained through a spatio-temporal perspective. In order to investigate which were the most profitable fishing areas. An optimum fishing pathway was generated for one of the vessels in 1997 based on a raster GIS. The results indicated a decrease of kitefin shark catches in several areas around Azores archipelago and over the time period analysed. The analysis of the data in a GIS environment yield a dynamic and integrated view of the species catches off Azores in a temporal and spatial perspective.