Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Fisheries Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ fishres Full length article Captures of manta and devil rays by small-scale gillnet fisheries in northern Peru E. Alfaro-Cordova a,b, ⁎ , A. Del Solar a , J. Alfaro-Shigueto a,b,c , J.C. Mangel a,c , B. Diaz d , O. Carrillo e , D. Sarmiento f a ProDelphinus Jose Galvez 780-E, Miraflores, Lima, Peru b Universidad Cientifica del Sur. Facultad de Biologia Marina. Panamericana Sur, Km 19. Lima, Peru c Centre for Ecology and Conservation School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK d Instituto del Mar del Peru. General Valle S/N Chucuito Callao, Peru e I.S.T.P. Contralmirante Manuel Villar Olivera, Panamericana Norte km 1235, Los Pinos, Zorritos, Tumbes f Asociación Amigos de la Naturaleza, Mz. B5 Lte. 37, Juan Tomis Stack, San Jose, Chiclayo ARTICLE INFO Handled by B Arara ABSTRACT There is a growing global concern for the conservation of manta and devil rays (Mobulidae). Populations of mobulids are falling worldwide and fisheries are one of the main activities contributing to this decline. Mobulid landings have been reported in Peru for decades. However, detailed information regarding the description of mobulid captures is not available. This study provides an assessment of mobulid captures and fish-market landings by small-scale gillnet fisheries from three landing sites in northern Peru. Onboard and shore-based observations were used to monitor captures and landings respectively between January 2015 and February 2016. All mobulid species known to occur in Peru were recorded from landings, with immature Mobula japanica as the most frequent catch. No manta rays (Manta birostris) were reported as caught although one specimen was observed as landed. The mean nominal CPUE was 1.6 ± 2.8 mobulids[km.day] -1 while the average capture per set (fishing operation) was 2.0 ± 8.09 mobulids[set] -1 . Smooth hammerhead shark (S. zygaena) and yel- lowfin tuna (T. albacares) were target species highly associated with mobulid captures. The majority of mobulid captures occurred in nearshore waters and over the continental shelf off Zorritos and San Jose. Mobulid capture showed a temporal trend, increasing between September 2015 and February 2016, with a peak in October 2015 (10.17 ± 0.23 mobulids[km.day] -1 ), reflected by landings that showed an additional peak in May. A gen- eralized linear zero-inflated negative binomial two-part model (GLM ZINB) indicated that longitude and latitude explained both the zero-inflated binomial model, as well as the count negative binomial model, which also included season as a explanatory variable for differences in mobulid captures. The mean CPUE (mobulids [km.day] -1 ) and mean Variance values obtained from the fitted final model were 1.73 and 25.51, respectively. Results also suggest that high mobulid captures could reflect an opportunistic behaviour of fishermen who catch mobulids when target species are not as abundant. Considering the global conservation status of mobulids, (Manta and Mobula), and acknowledging that M. birostris was the only species not recorded captured in the study but is the only species legally protected in Peru, further studies are necessary to support the possible inclusion of Mobula species in national management plans. 1. Introduction Mobulids are large planktivorous elasmobranchs from the family Mobulidae, represented by manta (Manta spp) and devil rays (Mobula spp). These rays are mostly identified by their large body sizes, with disc widths (DW) up to 7 m for Manta spp and up to 5 m for Mobula spp (Notarbartolo di Sciara, 1988; McClain et al., 2015), and the presence of two cephalic lobes on the head. The genus Manta includes two species, while the genus Mobula groups nine species. Both genera are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical latitudes (40°N–40°S) where seawater temperatures are between 20 and 26 °C (Clark, 2010; Canese et al., 2011; Croll et al., 2012). However, mobulid individuals do not show large ranges of displacement (Camhi et al., 2007). Although little is known about the ecology of this family (Couturier et al., 2012), some studies have revealed the high vulnerability of mobulids to anthropogenic threats such as fisheries, habitat loss and http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2017.06.012 Received 21 November 2016; Received in revised form 7 June 2017; Accepted 18 June 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author at: ProDelphinus Jose Galvez 780-E, Miraflores, Lima, Peru. E-mail address: elianaalfarocordova@gmail.com (E. Alfaro-Cordova). Fisheries Research 195 (2017) 28–36 0165-7836/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. MARK