The octopus (Octopus vulgaris) in the small-scale trap fishery off the Canary Islands (Central-East Atlantic)

A small-scale trap fishery for many benthic species is carried out along the coastal shelves of the Canary Islands (Central-East Atlantic) by small boats (7.5 to 12.4 m in length). The target species of the fishery are seabreams (Sparidae), but substantial numbers of octopus (Octopus vulgaris) are also landed. In this paper, we report fishing data for octopus landed at the port of Mogan (Southwest of Gran Canaria) from 1989 to 1996. The landing of O. vulgaris increased steadily from 1989 to 1994, from 7 t to 25 t. However, in 1995, the catch fell to the level of 1989 (7 t), and in 1996 was only 6 t, the lowest figure for the decade. The CPUE shows two seasonal peaks of maximal abundance, one in April-May and the other in September-November, both coinciding with reproductive periods, while the lowest figure is in summer (July-August). We describe the fishing methods and the seasonal variations of the catch records and fishing effort in relation to years and market strategies. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.