Argentina is one of the countries with the largest overall landings of skates and rays
(24 000 t/year). As a consequence of high levels of exploitation and deficient management
tools, many of these species are threatened with extinction. In the bottom trawl fishery
of San Matías Gulf, northern Patagonia, skates and rays are caught as bycatch and all have
historically been recorded in the fishery logbook under the category “rays”. Therefore,
species composition and their characteristics were unknown. The aim of this study was to
characterize the commercial exploitation of batoid species in this fishery. Our results
indicate that commercial landings include nine species of skate, six of which are common.
Among these, Atlantoraja platana, Sympterygia bonapartii
and Dipturus chilensis were considered the main species of this
fishery. Their combined relative abundance and weight made up about 90% of the batoid
catch throughout the year. Sexual segregation was detected in four species in which
individuals of one sex dominated commercial landings. The commercial fraction was composed
of individuals with a wide range of sizes. Immature individuals could represent 90% of the
individuals landed for some species. At present, lack of data prevents us from quantifying
the impact that this fishery is having on these species, but our findings highlight the
importance of conducting research surveys to assess the abundance and geographic extent of
these populations. The information presented here provided the basis for the proposal of a
new logbook format incorporating species-level identification. The new logbook was
implemented on 1 January 2010.