Fishing with beach side trawl nets of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) in the waters of Colares Island, Amazon, Brazil

This study reports the initial occurrence, establishment, invasion, and beach seine fishing of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man, 1879) in the waters of the municipality of Colares, Pará, Brazil. Information on the species’ emergence was obtained from historical aquaculture records in the region and semi-structured interviews with shrimp fishers from the communities of Colares (urban center), Jenipaúba da Laura, Maranhense, Mocajatuba, and Ariri. To describe the fishing and capture procedures using beach seine nets, several fishing operations were observed and documented through photographs and videos. Biological data were collected between March 10 and April 16, 2025, by researchers from the National Center for Research and Conservation of the Marine Biodiversity of North (CEPNOR/ICMBio) and the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA) in estuarine waters of Colares. All methods and procedures applied in this study were authorized for scientific data collection (Sisbio: 44915-17). The species has been present in Pará since the early 1980s, introduced into the natural environment through aquaculture activities. Beach seine fishing for M. rosenbergii offers fishers an alternative source of income, and the species is commercialized in local markets and fairs.