Reproduction and community structure of fish from winter shrimp bycatch from the Southeast Gulf of California

Shrimp fishery is one of the most important fisheries of the world. However, the low selectivity from trawl nets leads the capture of a large number of non-target species. Shrimp bycatch include a large number of fish and invertebrate species; of which fish species are the most abundant. The present study aims to determine the community structure as well as the average sizes at first maturity of the fish species from shrimp bycatch caught from industrial fisheries at the southeast of the Gulf of California from Sinaloa to Guerrero, Mexico; from January to March 2015. A total of 37 species of finfish were found; of which five were considered rare. The fish species with the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) were Pseudupeneus grandisquamis, Paralichthys woolmani, Lutjanus peru y Diapterus peruvianus. The average size at first maturity of 12 fish species was determined; nine of which have not been previously reported. Of the analyzed organisms 90% were in juvenile stage; including species with riverine and artisanal fisheries. The present study demonstrates the risk in marine populations of different non-target species due to the low selectivity of shrimp trawls.