Fishery Bulletin 119(1) 
Table 2 
Statistics for elasmobranch species rarely landed from May 2017 through March 2020 in artisanal fisheries 
that operate from 3 communities along the Pacific coast of Guatemala: Las Lisas, Sipacate, and Buena Vista. 
The number of documented individuals (7), mean size (total length or disc width, depending on the species), and 
standard error of the mean (SE) are presented for each species by community. The interdorsal lengths of pelagic 
threshers (Alopias pelagicus) were recorded because they were landed without heads or caudal fins. Species are 
considered rarely landed if n<15. 
Las Lisas 
Mean 
Species size (cm) 
Aetobatus laticeps 79.75 5.09 
Carcharhinus falciformis 
Galeocerdo cuvier 90.50 
Pseudobatos leucorhynchus 
Mustelus lunulatus 
Narcine entemedor 
Rhinoptera steindachneri 
Narcine vermiculata 
Nasolamia velox 
Mobula munkiana 
Styracura pacifica 
Carcharhinus leucas 
Carcharhinus limbatus 
Urotrygon aspidura 
Sphyrna mokarran 
Alopias pelagicus 
Urotrygon chilensis 
locally. Fishermen indicated that the vermiculate electric 
ray (Narcine vermiculata) is used as bait in the bottom 
longline fisheries. Dulvy et al. (2000) highlighted that 
batoid species in general are arguably the most vulnerable 
species in marine fisheries. Clarke et al. (2018) conducted 
a productivity susceptibility analysis for elasmobranch 
species in bottom fisheries and revealed that the longtail 
stingray is one of the most vulnerable species in Costa 
Rica, mainly because of its low reproductive potential and 
distribution, which overlaps greatly with shallow-water 
fishing grounds. 
Conservation and management 
Although elasmobranch species are not recognized as 
target species in artisanal fisheries in Guatemala, they 
are captured in high volumes during several months of 
the year and, therefore, account for a high percentage of 
the income of fishermen. There are currently no regula- 
tions for the management and conservation of elasmo- 
branch species off the Pacific coast of Guatemala, and 
most artisanal fleets operate without permits or official 
records. Although all shark species can be exploited in 
artisanal, large-scale, or industrial fisheries (MAGA, 
2002), ray species are not included as target species for 
any coastal fishery. Currently, the nongovernmental 
Sipacate Buena vista 
Mean Mean 
size (cm) SE n size (cm) SE 
81.81 2.45 7 87.21 10.36 
92.00 1.00 11 86.45 3.53 
89.29 0.71 
32.71 4.43 
49.25 10.94 
74.50 9.50 
59.50 1.50 
717.33 5.90 
109.00 11.00 
organization Fundacion Mundo Azul and the Fisheries 
and Aquaculture Regulations Department of Guatemala 
have created a technical group to supervise and update 
the management plan for the conservation of Chondrich- 
thyan species in Guatemala (this plan is in the final stages 
of approval and publication). However, Guatemala has not 
yet imposed national fishing regulations for any elasmo- 
branch species, as other countries in Latin America, such 
as Mexico, have done (Saldafia-Ruiz et al., 2019). Off the 
Pacific coast of Mexico, shark nursery areas have been 
considered priority areas for elasmobranch conservation, 
and legislation has banned fishing activities inside those 
areas (Saldana-Ruiz et al., 2019). 
In Guatemala, it is also necessary to protect elasmo- 
branch nursery areas, particularly for the scalloped ham- 
merhead, which is listed as critically endangered in the 
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and uses areas 
along the coasts of Guatemala during the early stages of 
its life cycle (Rigby et al., 2019). In addition, it is import- 
ant to develop adequate management strategies because 
rays are highly vulnerable to coastal fisheries because of 
their very low productivity potential (Clarke et al., 2018). 
Therefore, it is important to support conservation actions 
and continuous monitoring efforts to improve the man- 
agement of elasmobranch species in the eastern central 
Pacific Ocean. 
