Análisis de la pesquería furtiva de tortugas marinas en aguas de la plataforma cubana.

Abstract

Illegal fishing is one of the main threats that sea turtles face in Cuba. The objective of this study was toanalyze the illegal fishing of these animals in the waters of the shelf. To this end. There were processed theannual data provided by the National Office of State Inspection (ONIE) on the confiscated products (PD) ofsea turtles (1997-2015), the meters of confiscated nets and the total actions developed by the inspectorsin the whole country (2003-2015). On the other hand it was selected a sampling area, located in the northwesternregion (Zone C), between El Morrillo beach and the Hicacos Peninsula. Different data were recordedfrom the sampled turtles and the characteristics of the nets used by illegal fishermen were analyzed. Theobtained results indicated that illegal fishing exists practically all over the shelf, being Zone C the one thatpresented the greater amount of PD and confiscated nets. The PDs annually showed a tendency to increaseand there was no relationship between these and the total number of actions carried out by the inspectors.The estimated minimum number of turtles captured varied between 50 and 1 314 animals. In addition, illegalfishing in the study area affected the three main species that frequent Cuban waters: green turtle (51,8 %),hawksbill (44,6 %) and loggerhead (3,6 %) in different phases of their life cycle.