A note on the use of dolphins as bait in the artisanal fisheries off Bahía Solano, Chocó, Colombia

Dolphin hunting for fishing bait in Bahía Solano, Chocó, Colombia, was evaluated during eight months, between July 2005 and April 2006. Interviews were conducted with 122 fishermen (18.2% of the registered zone), who cover at most 890km2 when (approximately 2.3% Pacific Territorial Sea Colombia), data obtained from landings a company. Only using longlines (37.3%) confirmed dolphins as bait. It not possible to obtain additional information about date, specific location or dolphin species, but probable captured species common bottlenose pantropical spotted dolphin. Nine killed study period (1.1 dolphins/month) extrapolating these numbers all region (250), 24 might have been taken (3 dolphins/month). Fish caught include bearded brotula, groupers smooth-hound.