Deep-sea Chondrichthyes caught in an experimental fishing survey off the Canary Islands (NE Atlantic Ocean)

Abstract

There is a long tradition in the deep-sea fishery of the bathypelagic black scabbard-fish, Aphanopus carbo and A. intermedius, in Portugal mainland and in the Archipelago of Madeira. In Madeira, this fishery is performed with drifting longlines, set between 800 and 1200 m of depth, on the slopes of the islands of the archipelago and nearby seamounts. This is one of the oldest known fisheries in the world targeting a deepwater resource. In March 2009 an experimental survey to obtain indications about the abundance of black scabbard-fish and to access the by-catch of this type of fishery was carried out inside the Canary Island ZEE, in the framework of a fisheries agreement between Macaronesian archipelagos (Madeira, Azores and the Canaries). Eleven species of Chondrichthyes were identified, belonging to 5 families: Pseudotriakidae, Centrophoridae, Etmopteridae, Somniosidae and Chimaeridae.For some of the species caught and due to its rarity, data regarding depth of occurrence, sexual matury and morphometry are given. Several voucher specimens from all species caught were deposited as reference collections in the Natural History Museum of Funchal (MMF).