| Summary: | Trawling for penaeid shrimps in Sofala Bank (central Mozambique) has been suggested to have major effects on the size of sea turtle populations. A total of 39 commercial fishers, fishery observers and enforcers were interviewed to assess the level of sea turtle catches in fishing operations and reported that at least 1,735±1,235 sea turtles are caught each fishing season of about seven months. Green turtle (Chelonia mydas, 48.4%), the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta, 25.8%) were the most common species, but catches also comprised the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea),the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea). Over 54.8% of the incidents occur within a few miles of the small islands forming the Primeiras and Segundas archipelago in the northern one fifth section of the fishery. About 86% of the animals are hauled alive and around 14% (265±184)drown in the net each fishing season. While these rates of mortality are high owing to tow times lasting 3 hrs on average, they are lower than the ones reported in Australia and the US Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic trawl fisheries. These results should be validated by onboard observations to be carried out during one fishing season before they can be considered for management. O arrasto comercial para camarões peneídeos do Banco de Sofala (centro do Moçambique) tem sido referido como tendo efeitos negativos sobre a população de tartarugas marinhas. Foram conduzidas 39 entrevistas com mestres de pesca, amostradores e fiscais de pesca para avaliar o nível de impacto desta pescaria sobre a população destas espécies, que reportaram que pelo menos 1.735±1.235 tartarugas marinhas são acidentalmente pescadas durante uma campanha de pesca de cerca de sete meses. A tartaruga verde (Chelonia mydas, 48,4%), a tartaruga cabeçuda (Caretta caretta, 25,8%) tem sido as mais frequentes, mas também tem sido pescadas a tartaruga olivácea (Lepidochelys olivacea), tartaruga de bico (Eretmochelys imbricata) e a tartaruga coriácea ...
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