Avalos Castillo and Santana Morales: Artisanal elasmobranch fisheries off the Pacific coast of Guatemala 5 
elasmobranchs were collected from the landings of the 
trawl boats in this fishery. Data recorded includes size, 
sex, and maturity. For this fishery, it was not possible to 
calculate LPUE. 
Results and discussion 
Fishing activity 
The fishing activities of the communities in this study are 
carried out year-round, and there are no restrictions or 
seasonal closures. Fishermen do not engage in other eco- 
nomic activities. The fishermen from Las Lisas worked 
independently from one another, owned their own boats, 
and went fishing 5-6 d per week; the durations of their 
fishing trips were 1—2 nights. The fishermen from Sipacate 
and Buena Vista were hired by boat owners to work as part 
of fishing fleets (1-10 boats), and the durations of their 
fishing trips were generally 2 nights. Two types of fishing 
gears were identified: bottom and mid-water gill nets made 
of monofilament (mesh: 4-6 cm; length: 300—700 m; height: 
5-7 m) and bottom longlines with small J hooks or Eagle 
Claw‘ half circle hooks (Wright and McGill Co., Denver, 
CO; height: 3-6 cm). The gill nets were linked together 
(maximum of 5 connected nets), remained in the water for 
5-6 h, and were used 3-5 times per trip. Although gill nets 
were set to catch bony fish species, small sharks and rays 
were incidentally caught as species of moderate-to-high 
commercial value. The bottom longlines spanned 2-6 km, 
contained 300—700 hooks, remained in the water for 3-4 h, 
and were changed 2-4 times per trip. The bottom longlines 
targeted demersal bony fish and ray species, and some 
shark species were incidentally caught. 
The artisanal fisheries of the communities of Las Lisas, 
Sipacate, and Buena Vista are classified as commercial 
demersal and small pelagic fisheries, according to the 
General Law of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Guatemala 
(MAGA, 2002), and do not include the capture of elasmo- 
branch species as target species. A notable problem is that 
artisanal fishing activities are carried out without permits 
from the Fisheries and Aquaculture Regulations Depart- 
ment of Guatemala because of a lack of resources. 
Landings 
In Las Lisas, 131 fishing trips were recorded, of which 70 
trips (53%) used gill nets and 61 trips (47%) used bottom 
longlines. In addition, landings of 3 shrimp trawl boats 
with incidentally caught elasmobranchs were evaluated. 
Data on 669 elasmobranchs were recorded. In total, 48% 
(n=321) and 41% (n=274) of the sampled individuals were 
caught in gill nets and bottom longlines, respectively. 
Finally, shrimp trawl! nets were responsible for only 11% 
(n=74) of the incidentally caught individuals. In this 
* Mention of trade names or commercial companies is for identi- 
fication purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
location, 6 species were identified (3 shark and 3 ray spe- 
cies; Table 1). Only 6% (n=37) of the recorded individuals 
were mature (Fig. 2). 
In Sipacate, fishing vessels use longlines and gill nets 
simultaneously. During 282 fishing trips (64%), 103 fish- 
ing trips (23%), and 57 fishing trips (13%), elasmobranch 
species were caught with both gears, longlines only, and 
gill nets only, respectively. In total, 2603 elasmobranchs 
were recorded, of which 1608 individuals (62%) were cap- 
tured with bottom longlines and 991 individuals (38%) 
were captured with gill nets. A total of 16 species were 
identified (9 shark and 7 ray species; Table 1). Only 7% 
(n=179) of the specimens were mature (Fig. 2). 
In Buena Vista, fishing vessels used longlines and gill 
nets simultaneously. In 50 fishing trips (57%), 21 fishing 
trips (24%), and 17 fishing trips (19%), both gears, bottom 
longlines only, and gill nets only were used, respectively. 
Information was obtained on 526 elasmobranchs, of which 
271 individuals (52%) were captured with bottom long- 
lines and 255 individuals (48%) were captured with gill 
nets. A total of 17 species were identified in this location 
(8 shark and 9 ray species; Table 1). Only 4% (n=24) of the 
specimens were mature (Fig. 2). The statistics for rarely 
landed species (n<15) in all 3 communities are presented 
in Table 2. 
The LPUE varied over the course of the study, and peri- 
ods of high LPUE values were determined for each spe- 
cies. The shark species that appeared most in the landings 
was the scalloped hammerhead (70% of landings), and 
the longtail stingray was the most common ray (91% of 
landings). For the longtail stingray, most of the landings 
occurred during the first months of the year. An increase 
in landings during the rainy season was observed for the 
scalloped hammerhead (May—September). 
The scalloped hammerhead was 1 of 5 shark species that 
dominated the landings in Guatemala during 1997-1999 
(Ruiz Alvarado et al.°), and during 2006-2007, the scal- 
loped hammerhead was the second-most-caught shark 
species along the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Abundance of 
scalloped hammerhead has also been observed to be higher 
during the rainy season in Costa Rica (Zanella et al., 2009) 
and Mexico (Alejo-Plata et al., 2007) than during other 
seasons; during the rainy season, waters in coastal areas 
have higher concentrations of nutrients than during other 
periods. The fishing areas of the communities of Las Lisas 
and Sipacate evaluated in our study correspond to 2 of the 
3 nursery areas used by scalloped hammerhead that were 
identified by Ixquiac Cabrera et al.', areas in which 88% of 
the landed individuals were classified as either neonates or 
juveniles. Ten years later, the results of our study indicate 
a continued presence of neonates and juveniles in these 
areas. According to this information and to the 3 criteria 
5 Ruiz Alvarado, C., M. Ixquiac Cabrera, C. Baldetti Herrera, 
and J. Martinez. 2000. Evaluacion del potencial de explotacion 
del recurso tiburén en las costas del Pacifico de Guatemala, 
56 p. Fondo Nac. Cienc. Tecnol., Cent. Estud. Mar Acuic., Unidad 
Manejo Pesca Acuic., Guatemala. [In Spanish.] [Available from 
website.] 
