Common Name
Monkfish
Scientific Name
Lophius gastrophysus
Note: This FIP is inactive.
The principal private sector stakeholders of the FIP are organized in a formal consortium: Manoel Cordeiro (fishery operator), Fish Life (local processing and export), Blueyou Consulting (technical guidance on fishery improvement) and Blueyou Trading (European commercial partner). Together with the leading fishery scientists in Santa Catarina, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, a proposal has been developed to conduct stock assessments and analyse catch based on a catch documentation scheme (CDS) of the gillnet fleet and samples from the trawl fleet, which can then serve as basis for fisheries management.
The monkfish stock was likely overfished in the early 2000s. The gillnet fleet has shrunk since then to only two vessels and the stock might have recovered, but trawlers continue to catch monkfish as bycatch and there is no updated stock assessment available. Providing updated stock assessments and evaluating bycatch species to derive catch limits are therefore the immediate improvement needs. In the intermediate term, the program aims to better control and monitor the activity of the trawl fleet, which severely impacts the monkfish stock.
| 32% | 25% | 39% | 4% |
| 0% |
| Behind | On Track | Complete | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Behind | On Track | Complete | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
The critical gap impeding sustainable fisheries management in the Southern Brazil monkfish fishery is that the absence of data on current stock biomass and lack of catch accounting hampers the ability of fisheries authorities to establish appropriate catch limits and identify adaptive management interventions. Therefore, the key objectives for this FIP include:
- Implement a catch documentation scheme for the gillnet fleet targeting monkfish
- Data collection program, representative sampling of the trawl fleet
- Conduct stock assessments, derive MSY-based reference points by cohort analysis
- Determine and implement TACs (gillnet AND trawl fleet)
- Observer program for catch composition (gillnet and trawl fleet)
- Motivate reform for regulation of the trawl fleet (5% rule)
- Development of markets - all efforts will be financed over the supply chain
- MSC certification (after 5 years)