393 



Incidental capture of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) 

 and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) 

 sea turtles by the pelagic longline fishery 

 off southern Brazil 



Jorge E. Kotas 



IBAMA/Acordo Projeto TAMAR- 



Instituto de Pesca/CPPM 

 Programa REVIZEE-SCORE SUL 

 Rodovia Osvaldo Reis 345 apt. 22 C 

 Itajaf-SC 88306-001. Brazil 



Silvio dos Santos 



DTI-CNPq 



Programa REVIZEE-SCORE SUL 

 Rua Ezio Testlni 320 

 Santos-SP 11089-210, Brazil 



Berenice M. G. Gallo 



Fundacao Pro-TAMAR 

 Rua Antonio Athanasio 273 

 Ubatuba-SP 11680-000, Brazil 



Paulo C. R. Barata 



Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz 



Rua Leopoldo Bulhoes 1480 - 8A 



Rio de Janeiro - RJ 21041-210, Brazil 



E-mail address (for P. C. R. Barata, contact author): 



pbarataigialternex.com.br 



back sea turtles by the surface longline 

 fishery operating off the southern coast 

 of Brazil, within Brazil's 200 mile 

 exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and 

 in international waters, and present 

 catch-per-unit-of-effort (CPUE) data 

 and estimates of average probability 

 of death at capture for these species. 

 Preliminary results of incidental cap- 

 tures of sea turtles by longliners dur- 

 ing one longline trip in this area were 

 presented by Barata et al. 2 In the 

 present study we provide more detailed 

 data from additional trips, including 

 information concerning leatherback 

 sea turtles, as well as analyses of these 

 data. To our knowledge, this is the first 

 detailed report about the incidental 

 capture of sea turtles by the Brazilian 

 commercial longline fleet. 



Venancio G. de Azevedo 



DTI-CNPq 



Programa REVIZEE-SCORE SUL 



Av. Pavao 1 64 



Caraguatatuba-SP 11676-520, Brazil 



Incidental capture in fishing gear is 

 one of the main sources of injury and 

 mortality of juvenile and adult sea 

 turtles (NRC, 1990; Lutcavage et al., 

 1997; Oravetz, 1999). Six out of the 

 seven extant species of sea turtles — the 

 leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), 

 the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), 

 the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), the 

 hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), 

 the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea). 

 and the Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys 

 kempii) — are currently classified as 

 endangered or critically endangered by 

 the World Conservation Union (IUCN, 

 formerly the International Union for 

 Conservation of Nature and Natural 

 Resources), which makes the assess- 

 ment and reduction of incidental cap- 

 ture and mortality of these species in 

 fisheries priority conservation issues 

 (IUCN/Species Survival Commission, 

 1995). 



Several studies have examined sea 

 turtle bycatch by pelagic longline fish- 

 eries, especially in the North Atlantic 

 and Pacific oceans (NRC, 1990; Nish- 

 emura and Nakahigashi, 1990; Tobias, 

 1991; Bolten et al., 1996; Williams et 



al., 1996; Lutcavage et al., 1997), but 

 little is known about sea turtle bycatch 

 in the South Atlantic. One of the most 

 detailed reports on longline incidental 

 captures in that area is that by Acha- 

 val et al. (2000), which documents the 

 incidental capture of loggerhead and 

 leatherback sea turtles in the south- 

 western Atlantic by longliners target- 

 ing swordfish (Xiphias gladius), tuna 

 (Thunnus obesus), and other related 

 species. Additional references, some- 

 times with scant detail, can be found in 

 Weidner and Arocha ( 1999 ), Fallabrino 

 et al. (2000), and Domingo et al. 1 



In this study, we report the inciden- 

 tal capture of loggerhead and leather- 



1 Domingo, A.. A. Fallabrino, R. Forselledo, 

 and V. Quirici. 2002. Incidental cap- 

 ture of loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and 

 leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea 

 turtles in the Uruguayan long-line fish- 

 ery in Southwest Atlantic. Presented 

 at the 22nd Annual Symposium on Sea 

 Turtle Biologv and Conservation, Miami, 

 USA, 4-7 April 2002. [Available from A. 

 Domingo: Direccidn Nacional de Recur- 

 sos Acuaticos, Constituyente 1497, C.R 

 11.200, Montevideo, Uruguay.] 



Materials and methods 



Observations were carried out by three 

 of the authors (JEK. SS, and VGA) 

 during three trips aboard Brazil- 

 flagged commercial longline vessels 

 based in Itajai, State of Santa Cata- 

 rina, southern Brazil (Fig. 1). The 

 trips occurred in 1998, the first (10 

 sets) between 13 March and 12 April 

 (summer-fall), the second (13 sets) 

 between 15 June and 5 July (fall- 

 winter I, and the third (11 sets (between 

 28 September and 13 October (spring), 

 and took place between latitudes 

 27°30'S and 34°30'S and longitudes 

 36°00'W and 52°00'W (Fig. 1). The 



Barata, P. C. R., B. M. G. Gallo, S. dos 

 Santos, V. G. Azevedo, and J. E. Kotas. 

 1998. Captura acidental da tartaruga 

 marinha Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) 

 na pesca de espinhel de superficie na ZEE 

 brasileira e em aguas internacionais. In 

 Resumos Expandidos da XI Semana 

 Nacional de Oceanografia, Rio Grande, 

 RS, outubro de 1998, p. 579-581. Edi- 

 tora Universitaria-UFPel, Pelotas, RS, 

 Brazil. [Available from FURG, Oceano- 

 logia. Av. Italia, km 8, Campus Carreiros, 

 C.P 474, Rio Grande, RS 96201-900, 

 Brazil.! 



Manuscript approved for publication 

 22 December 2003 by Scientific Editor. 



Manuscript received 20 January 2004 

 at NMFS Scientific Publications Office. 



Fish. Bull. 102:393-399(2004). 



