From July 1996 to June 1997, in Armação do Itapocoroy, Penha, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, monthly census were done in three areas of traditional fishery and Itacolomis islands. A total of 10021 seabirds were registered, belonging to eight species, five genus and four families. The average number of seabirds per dragging varied between 80,2 and 113,6. Sterna spp, appeared at first in 43,3% of the released by-catch, followed by Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein, 1823, Fregata magnificens Matheus, 1914, Phalacrocorax brasilianus (Humboldt, 1805) and Sula leucogaster Boddaert, 1783. The average size of the fish consumed by the seabirds oscillated from 8,3 cm (Sterna spp.) to 18,5 cm (F. magnificens), with an average time from 6,12 to 7,55 minutes per by-catch released. In general, seabirds use 84,0% of the by-catch fish as a feeding source.
Seabirds; by-catch; feeding