Fishing logbook-based onboard monitoring: an effective and reliable alternative for tracking the common eel fishery (Ophichthus remiger) in northern Peru

Vinatea-Chávez R.; Pasara-Polack A.; Grillo-Núñez J.; Loza-Choque K.; Vargas N. · Marine and Fishery Sciences (2026) · DOI: 10.47193/mafis.3932026010706

Resumen

Since 2022, the Asociación Peruana de Productores de Anguila (APPA) has implemented two private monitoring systems in the common eel (Ophichthus remiger) fishery in northern Peru: the Onboard Observer System (SOB-anguila), operated by a technical observer, and the Fishing Logbook System (SBP-anguila), carried out by the crew of 19 commercial vessels. Between September 2022 and August 2023, both systems achieved coverage levels of 4.6% (SOB) and 88.5% (SBP) of the 2,414 trips reported by APPA. The reliability of the SBP-anguila was evaluated using indicators of completeness, temporal continuity, spatial and trip-level coverage, in addition to a statistical validation analysis at the haul level. This included the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare operational variables such as catch volume, CPUE, fishing effort, bycatch, and discards, as well as Fisher’s exact test to assess the occurrence of juveniles. The results show that the SBP-anguila is a robust and efficient system, with consistent records, broad spatial coverage, and strong representativity. No statistically significant differences were found for six of the eight variables analyzed in comparison with the SOB-anguila. Likewise, the SBP-anguila demonstrated a high capacity to accurately estimate critical variables that require greater cov-erage, such as bycatch and discards. Its proper implementation, based on timely training, standardized protocols, and the commitment of the harvesting sector, strengthens its potential as an effective, sustainable, and low-cost tool, and its integration into conventional fishery monitoring systems is recommended.

Instituciones: Universidad Científica del Sur