Shark fisheries in Argentina

In the Argentine Sea there are about 35 species of sharks. Three species are subjected to directed fishing: the smoothhound Mustelus schmitti, the school shark Galeorhinus galeus and the copper shark Carcharhinus brachyurus. Other species of elasmobranchs with commercial importance are the angel shark Squatina spp. and several species of skates and rays. The rise in chondrichthyan declared landings registered from 1988 to 1996 is due to the increase in landings of smoothhound and rays. The most important directed shark fishery in the South-West Atlantic is the Necochea gill-net fishery for school shark, which is carried out by the coastal fleet; details are given of the ships and the gill-nets used in this area. The length frequencies of the catches by gill-nets are presented for the school shark; fishing effort (length (km) of net in the water per ship per day) and CPUE (number of sharks per fishing effort) were found not to be good indicators of population trends in the school shark fishery.