A LPUE (LANDING PER UNIT EFFORT) ANALYSIS OF THE TRAWL FISHERY FOR THE COASTAL SHRIMPS Artemesia longinaris AND Pleoticus muelleri OFF SOUTHERN BRAZIL

The Argentine stiletto shrimp (Artemesia longinaris) and the Argentine red shrimp (Pleoticus muelleri) currently sustain an important fishery in terms of tonnage and revenues in southern Brazil. This study analyzed the factors affecting the abundance of both species through the application of Generalized Linear Models to landing-per-unit-of-effort (LPUE) data of the trawl fleet operating on the main fishing grounds between 1998 and 2005. The main patterns of LPUE variability of both species were attributed do the effect of seasons and annual cycles. Larger yields were obtained in the southern shallow areas of Rio Grande do Sul State. No tendency either to an increase or a decline in stock abundance was observed, but the effort in one year was affected by the success of the captures of the previous year. In the last two years analyzed the abundance and the total captures declined.