Artisanal fisheries of native spiny lobster Panulirus meripurpuratus and smoothtail spiny lobster Panulirus laevicauda in the northeast region of Brazil

Abstract Spiny lobsters (Family Palinuridae) are a popular seafood in Brazil. We characterize the fishing activity and analyze the population of lobster species captured in the coast of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil. We monitored the landings of lobster fishermen at the start of the fishing season, from May 24 to November 21, in 2010, at Pirangi beach, the main landing point in the metropolitan area of Natal. The lobster fisherman in the region use small vessels and a compressor to dive in artificial reefs known as marambaias. The artisanal fishermen are engaged in several illegal practices and revealed a greater capture of lobsters categorized as small-sized for the market (11-13.95cm tail length). The capture area led to different fishing pressures for each species. For P. laevicauda, fishing pressure occurred for all size classes, while for P. meripurpuratus, pressure occurred partially, only for a few population cohorts. On regional scale, fishing involved a demand-supply trade balance centered on the size of capture vs. abundance, regardless of the natural interespecific differences on body size and the preferential distribution area. Our results provide key information for future decision making involving the fishing of spiny lobster.