Overlapping Areas Used for Artisanal Fishing and Populations of Franciscana Dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

This study identified the overlap between artisanal fishing areas and the Franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean (SWAO), Brazil, to identify areas where the species was incidentally captured from the perception of artisanal fishers. Using a semistructured questionnaire, ethnographic interviews (n = 330) were carried out from 2012 to 2018 with fishers from ten communities in southeastern (ES and RJ) and southern (PR) Brazil. After the interviews, the fishers presented their fishing routes, locations and areas of incidental capture and occurrence of the Franciscana dolphin. Ninety-five fishers (29%) identified the species: 23 in northern ES, 1 in southern ES, 20 in northern RJ, and 51 in the PR. Among the 235 fishers who could not identify the species, approximately half worked in the distribution gaps. The areas of occurrence noted by the fishers coincided with those described in the “National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Toninha,” an official document from the Brazilian Government and scientific literature. The results indicate that the information provided by fishers is useful for understanding the distribution of the Franciscana dolphin and can be used in the development of management strategies to mitigate the incidental capture of the species.