Population status and fishery potential of the mangrove crab, Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) in North-eastern Brazil

Autor(es)

Maia Santos, Luciana Cavalcanti ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Amaro Pinheiro, Marcelo Antonio ^[2] ; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid ^{[4, 5]} ; Bitencourt, Marisa Dantas ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Ecol Paisagem & Conservacao LEPaC, Dept Ecol, Inst Biociencias, Rua Matao, 321, Travessa 14, Cidade Univ, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista Julio Mesquita Filho, Grp Pesquisa Biol Crustaceos CRUSTA, Lab Biol Crustaceos, IB, Campus Litoral Paulista, BR-11330900 Sao Vicente, SP - Brazil

^[3] UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista Julio Mesquita Filho, Campus Registro, Av Nelson Brihi Badur 430, Registro, SP - Brazil

^[4] ULB, Lab Syst Ecol & Resource Management, Dept Biol Organismes, Fac Sci, CP 169, Ave Franklin Roosevelt 50, B-1050 Brussels - Belgium

^[5] Vrije Univ Brussel, Lab Plant Biol & Nat Management, Mangrove Management Grp, Fac Wetenschappen Bioingn Wetenschappen, Pl Laan 2, B-1050 Brussels - Belgium

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom; v. 98, n. 2, p. 299-309, MAR 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 2

Resumo

Ucides cordatus is a semi-terrestrial crab and key species endemic to mangrove areas of eastern Americas. In North-eastern Brazil this crab holds a major socio-economic function for artisanal fisheries, as in the SAo Francisco River Estuary (10 degrees 30'27 `' S 36 degrees 23'45 `' W). Nevertheless, decreases in this species' stock have been reported since 2000, requiring assessments of the crab population for conservation and management purposes. This study aims at assessing the population status and the fishery potential of this species in the mangroves of this estuary and suggests strategies for its fishery and conservation, according to the guidelines of the National Management Plan for U. cordatus Sustainable Use. Six different sites established in 30 km(2) of mangroves were sampled, with the density of U. cordatus burrows estimated to evaluate the population structure using the measure of burrow diameters. Results show that the crab mean burrow size was 56.82 (+/- 12.2) mm and that the medium-size crabs (40 - 70 mm) are the most abundant. The total mean crab density was 1.2 crabs m(-2), from which the density of crabs in commercial size (0.85 +/- 0.55 crabs m(-2)) was significantly higher than those in non-commercial size (0.35 +/- 0.21 burrow m(-2)). These mangroves showed a high potential for the crab fishery, with an immediate extractive potential (IEP) of 71.2% and future extractive potential (FEP) of 28.8%. Nevertheless, a lower crab density, probably due to high crab mortality, mangrove deforestation for shrimp farming and high fishery pressure, is a limiting factor for local fishery. We conclude that mangrove areas more appropriate for U. cordatus fishery (extractive areas) show higher mean crab size, IEP and density of commercial crabs, wherein a fixed exploitation rate or/and a fixed escapement rule should be considered. Exclusion areas, intended for the conservation, show lower values of these population parameters and higher FEP, wherein the fishery should be prohibited. These management strategies should also be considered in other Brazilian mangrove areas showing similar crab population structure, thus contributing to the National Management Plan for U. cordatus Sustainable Use. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/20028-9 - Análise espaço-temporal dos manguezais e da produção de caranguejos no sistema estuarino-lagunar do Rio São Francisco (Sergipe, Brasil): conservação da biodiversidade, bens e serviços do ecossistema versus desenvolvimento de pressões antrópicas
• Beneficiário: Luciana Cavalcanti Maia Santos
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado