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Open
The piracatinga (Calophysus macropterus) fishery and its impact on river dolphin conservation: an update
Fernando Trujillo, Miriam Marmontel, Paul Andre van Damme, Federico Mosquera, Elizabeth Cambell, Cedric Gilleman, Victor Utreras, Yurasi Briceno, Marcelo Oliveira, Leslie Cordoba, Vania Tejada, Javier del Aguila, Saulo Usma
International Whaling Commission
2020
SC/68B/SM/01
One of the main threats to river dolphins in South America has been the illegal hunting of these species to use them as bait to catch a scavenger fish known as piracatinga. Brazil implemented a moratorium on this fishery from 2015 to 2020, but currently the catch seems to have started again. Colombia has a permanent moratorium from 2017 on the trade in piracatinga. In countries like Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia the capture of dolphins as bait for this species is confirmed. This paper analyzes the current situation of this threat country by country and calls for an articulated work to control this fishery with transnational characteristics.
