Characterization of the main fisheries in San Jorge Gulf, Patagonia, Argentina

In San Jorge Gulf, several important economic activities are developed, including two industrial fisheries: hake (Merluccius hubbsi Marini, 1933) and Argentine red shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri Bate, 1888). Both overlap spatially and temporally. The San Jorge Gulf hake fishery consists of a high-seas ice trawler fleet (n = 20 fishing vessels) and a coastal fleet (n = 30 fishing vessels). These fisheries capture about 10% of the catch of the southern hake stock. The Argentine red shrimp fishery consists of a double-beam trawler fleet with 80 freezer vessels, responsible for more than 75% of shrimp landings in Argentina. The main problem of both fisheries is the bycatch of hake in one of its principle nursery areas. The present work describes the current management of the fisheries of San Jorge Gulf, which consists primarily of spatial and temporal closures for the Argentine red shrimp and zoning by stratum of the fleet for hake. Neither of these two fisheries has taken measures that effectively reduce bycatch.