Fishing opportunities for the deepwater cardinalfish ( Epigonus crassicaudus ) in the continental shelf break along central Chile

• DOI: 10.1111/jai.14309
• Publication Date: 2022-02-26T07:16:39Z
• Authors: Luis A. Cubillos; Juan Vilches; Ciro Oyarzún; Daniela Yepsen
• Keywords: Bycatch

Spatial patterns in fish distribution determine most fishing opportunities and tactics learned by fishers. To recurrent grounds of deepwater such as the cardinalfish (Epigonus crassicaudus) south-central zone Chile, we analyzed records logs covering period 1999–2007. Fishing trawls covered from Topocalma (34º06'S) to northwest Corral (39º52'S), compared position individual hauls (Euclidean distance) applying a hierarchical agglomerative clustering technique. The clusters obtained represented spatially distributed (n = 28), which were visited occasionally (<10 hauls) or regularly (>50 for cardinalfish. 7) discretely, Constitución (35°19'S) Mocha Island (38°23'S) along continental shelf slope between 313 333 m depth. species composition bycatch catch per unit effort trends allow us identify secondary locally depleted opportunities, last occurring close main ports.