the humboldt current system of northern and central chile - figema

THE HUMBOLDT CURRENT SYSTEM OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CHILEFigure 26 Total annual landings for the five most important pelagic species caught by the Chilean purse seinefleet during the period 1980–2005; left panel shows SST anomaly, total landings and landings of the fivespecies; right panel shows average landings per latitude and year in each of the four fisheries units, calculatedfor the time period 1980–2005.(Figure 27). The highest landings of Pacific sardine were attained in 1985 with almost 2.9 million t.During the 1980s this species was the most important small pelagic fish captured in Chilean watersbut catches continuously decreased during the late 1980s, reaching very low levels in the mid-1990s. The Pacific sardine was most important in northern Chile (Fisheries Unit I–II) but gainedproportionally in importance in central-southern Chile (Fisheries Unit V–IX) during the early 1990s(Figure 27). The highest landings of common sardine were attained in 1999 with 0.75 million t.During the 1980s this species was very scarcely captured in Chilean waters but from then on showeda steady increase (Figure 27). Landings of the common sardine were most important in the centralsouthernChile (Fisheries Unit V–IX).Relationships with oceanographic variationsThe coastal areas off the Chilean coast are known for being typical of an EBC system, whereupwelling is a characteristic oceanographic feature. Fonseca & Farías (1987) and other authorsdescribed the presence of active upwelling centres in several areas of the Chilean coast, like Iquique(Fuenzalida 1990) and Antofagasta in Fisheries Unit I–II (Blanco et al. 2001), Caldera andCoquimbo (Acuña et al. 1989) in Fisheries Unit III–IV, Valparaíso (Johnson et al. 1980) andConcepción (Cáceres & Arcos 1991) in Fisheries Unit V–IX.289