Composición de las capturas y descartes generados en la pesca de merluza común Merluccius hubbsi y langostino patagónico Pleoticus muelleri: un caso de estudio en la flota fresquera de altura del Golfo San Jorge, Chubut, Argentina Catches composition and discards generated by hake Merluccius hubbsi and shrimp Pleoticus muelleri fisheries: a case of study in the high-sea ice trawlers of San Jorge Gulf, Chubut, Argentina

The bottom trawling is the word most used fishing art generating large amounts of discards and incidental captures with a wide variety of species. In the San Jorge Gulf Argentine Patagonia, operates a fleet whose target specie is the hake Merluccius hubbsi, alternating with red shrimp Pleoticus muelleri. The information for this study covers a period of 10 years (2003-2012) and was collected by the On-board Observer Program of the Chubut Province (POBCh). Were identified a total of 90 taxa, 33 invertebrates, 34 osteichthyes and 22 chondrichthyes. Multivariate analysis indicated differences in the composition of the catch when the target species was shrimp or hake. When the target species was the hake catch composition varied by fishing areas, this pattern was not observed when the target species was the shrimp, with different numbers of taxa in the northern and central Gulf (north: hake 79 taxa, shrimp 71, center: hake 60 taxa, shrimp 50). The utilization of different species caught when the fleet operated on hake was integral, however when the fleet operated on shrimp most of the taxa were discarded. This study characterized the composition of the fleet catches at San Jorge Gulf, described the species caught when the fleet operates on hake or shrimp, analyzes the frequency of occurrence and abundance and describes the use of different taxa identified.