Collaborative assessment of recreational fishing in a subtropical estuarine system: a case study with fishing guides from south-eastern Brazil

Knowledge of recreational fisheries in Brazil is scarce and remains a critical issue to determine management actions. By adopting a collaborative approach that involved fishing guides, recreational fishing from the Iguape and Cananeia Lagoon Estuarine System (south-eastern Brazil) was assessed. During the study period (from April 2009 to March 2010), 341 fishing operations (boatday(-1)) were monitored. A total of 10051 fish specimens of 26 families and at least 51 species were examined. The fat snook, Centropomus parallelus Poey, was the most commonly caught species representing 51% of the fish caught. Annual fishing effort was estimated at 272859 angler-hours, and the mean catch-per-unit-effort was 3.42 fish boat(-1)h(-1). Size structure of targeted species suggests that the populations are overexploited. The approach used in the study reinforces the importance of engaging different stakeholders in science and management and improving the communication among them.