Techniques for Catching the Shellfish Anomalocardia flexuosa in a Tropical Estuary in Northeast Brazil

Anomalocardia flexuosa is the most exploited species of mollusk of the Brazilian coast (Rodrigues et al.2010), where it is found inhabiting muddy or sandy-mud substrates buried at depths of less than 20 cm in the intertidal and infralittoral zones (Narchi 1972; Mouëza et al.1999;). The species occurs from the West Indies to Uruguay (Rios 1994), with its local name and the extraction techniques and equipment used for its capture varying according to the region where it is harvested (Boehs et al.2000; Araújo and Rocha-Barreira 2004; Nishida et al.2004, 2006b; Dias et al.2007; Costa et al.2009; Pezzuto et al. 2015). Currently, A. flexuosa is raised through mariculture (FAO 2014) or collected and/or extracted directly from natural banks (Dias et al.2007; Machado et al.2010). Traditional communities exploiting mollusks in estuarine regions of Brazil use handmade equipment, such as the gadanho (hand rake) (Araújo 2001), and the draga de mão (hand dredger) (Pezzuto et al.2010).