Guitarfishes are of particular concern for marine conservationists, as their populations are declining at alarming rates, and more than 70% of these species is listed under some threat category or as data deficient. Furthermore, for 60% of currently described species, risk assessments have not been reviewed for over a decade (Moore, 2017). Another aggravating factor for their conservation is that guitarfishes are not considered ‘charismatic’, posing an extra challenge to public commitment and fundraising.

Many threatened species of guitarfish are endemic to regions where they are captured as bycatch in artisanal fisheries. Management plans for these species are, however, scarce or nonexistent (Moore, 2017). According to the International Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-SHARKS; which also includes batoids and chimeras), a promising way to reduce bycatch impacts is through compensatory release. The immediate releases of live animals regardless of their physical condition are also included in National Plans, such as the Brazilian PAN-Tubarões (MMA/ICMBio – Ordinance n˚. 125, December 2014). However, fishermen’s commitment is one of the main challenges for implementing compensatory release programs. Financial incentives have been used to increase fishermen’s willingness to participate (Leduc & Hussey, 2019). In fact, pay-to-release programs seem to bring excellent results in the short-term, and selecting endangered species with low commercial value can increase fishermen's commitment (Leduc & Hussey, 2019).

Southern Brazil is considered a conservation hotspot for endemic elasmobranchs (Dulvy et al., 2014). Three guitarfishes are found in the region; two of them are listed as threatened with extinction (the Brazilian guitarfish, Psedobatos horkelli – Critically Endangered; and, the Shortnose guitarfish, Zapteryx brevirostris – Vulnerable), and one is listed as Near Threatened (the Southern guitarfish, Pseudobatos percellens). In the state of Paraná, all of these species are commonly caught as bycatch in bottom fisheries (Costa & Chaves, 2006). In 7 years of monitoring (2013–2019), thousands of guitarfishes were landed by the artisanal fleet, many of them still alive. Of particular concern is that the region could be a parturition area for guitarfishes, as pregnant females are often landed.

Both Pseudobatos spp. are marketed and sold as ‘cação’ (Bernardo et al., 2020). Zapteryx brevirostirs, on the other hand, has a low commercial value, being sold only when the volume of fish catches is low (Wosnick et al., 2019). In the region, management plans are difficult to implement since all guitarfishes are found in the same areas where the species of commercial interest are legally caught. Therefore, the establishment of no-take zones and seasonal closures could cause conflicts between fishermen and conservationists. With this as the context, we decided to implement a pay-to-release initiative to reduce the impacts of bycatch on endemic and/or threatened with extinction guitarfishes. Given the high rates of post-capture survival (Wosnick & Freire, 2013), its conservation status, abundance as bycatch throughout the year (May–November), and low commercial value, the shortnose guitarfish (Fig. 1a) was chosen as a promising species for compensatory releases.

The program started in May 2010 – the first phase (2010–2016) was very challenging as it was the first time that this type of activity was proposed to the local fishing community. For 6 years, the releases were made by just one person and without any funding support. At first, live animals were bought for $1 each. For logistical reasons, only 10–15 guitarfishes were released at a time, representing about 10% of individuals captured in 1 day. In phase one, about 350 shortnose guitarfishes were returned to the sea. It was only in 2017 that the compensatory releases intensified, as well as the ties with the fishing community improved, allowing more people to have access to the animals. It was at this time that the second phase of the program began, with more members of the fishing community committed to the releases and the establishment of a research team. Currently, five researchers and the secretary of the fishing colony perform the activities. Significant changes in the behavior of the fishing community have been observed. Upon realizing our commitment to release guitarfishes, without jeopardizing their activities and earnings, most fishermen began to donate live animals. Such cooperation allowed more guitarfishes to be acquired and released alive. Such was the change in behavior that many fishermen began to release shortnose guitarfishes as soon as they were removed from the fishing nets, with a significant reduction in landings observed in phase 2. Moreover, release rates now range from 60 to 80% of captured individuals, demonstrating the success of phase 2 as compared to phase 1. Some fishermen became so committed to the activity that they even bought live animals from colleagues using their own money before releasing the fish (Fig. 1b). The activity was also adopted by workers who process fish (Fig. 1c), fish stall employees, fishermen family members (Fig. 1d), tourists (Fig. 1e) and even local celebrities (Cadu Scheffer, from stand-up comedy show TesãoPia; Fig. 1f). To date, over a thousand shortnose guitarfishes have been released (Fig. 1g). An interesting point is that the other guitarfish species (Fig. 1f, h) are now being sold to our research group at lower prices, indicating that fishermen are increasingly willing to help with the species’ conservation, even if it means reducing their financial gain.

Unfortunately, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the release program has been interrupted on its 10th anniversary. A number of challenges will have to be overcome in the next months, and years. Many fishermen stopped fishing, and the fish market stayed closed for almost 2 months. As a result, many members of the fishing community are experiencing financial difficulties. This can negatively affect guitarfish releases when activities return to normal, with animals that were previously released being sold to recover part of the financial loss. Much remains to be done, and the long-term effects of the pandemic on the release program remain uncertain. Tagging guitarfishes to assess recapture rates and for monitoring post-capture survival is necessary to evaluate the real impacts of the program on guitarfish conservation. Also, manuals on best fishing practices need to be created so that the release protocol for our program can be disseminated to other fishing communities. We hope to return to the activities as soon as possible and start the third phase of our initiative. This phase will consist of seeking financial support to boost the releases of the other guitarfish species. By doing that, it will be possible to assess the potential of the ‘pay to conserve’ strategy, as well as its evolution for other species that also need urgent conservation measures.

吉他鱼尤其受到海洋保护主义者的关注，因为它们的种群数量正在以惊人的速度下降，其中超过 70% 的物种被列为某种威胁类别或数据不足。此外，对于目前描述的 60% 的物种，风险评估已经有十多年没有经过审查（Moore，2017 年）。保护它们的另一个加重因素是吉他鱼不被认为是“有魅力的”，这对公众承诺和筹款构成了额外的挑战。

许多受威胁的吉他鱼物种在手工渔业中作为兼捕物捕获的地区是当地特有的。然而，这些物种的管理计划很少或根本不存在（Moore，2017）。根据鲨鱼保护和管理国际行动计划（IPOA-SHARKS；其中还包括蝙蝠和嵌合体），减少兼捕影响的一种有前途的方法是通过补偿性释放。不论身体状况如何，立即释放活体动物也包括在国家计划中，例如巴西 PAN-Tubarões（MMA/ICMBio – 法令 n˚。125，2014 年 12 月）。然而，渔民的承诺是实施补偿性放生计划的主要挑战之一。财政激励措施已被用于提高渔民的参与意愿（Leduc & Hussey，2019）。事实上，付费放生计划在短期内似乎带来了很好的效果，选择商业价值低的濒危物种可以增加渔民的承诺（Leduc＆Hussey，2019）。

巴西南部被认为是地方性弹鳃类动物的保护热点（Dulvy等，2014 年）。在该地区发现了三只吉他鱼；其中两条被列为濒临灭绝（巴西吉他鱼，Psedobatos horkelli – 极度濒危；以及短鼻吉他鱼，Zapteryx brevirostris – 易危），一种被列为近危（南部吉他鱼，Pseudobatos percellens）。在巴拉那州，所有这些物种通常在底层渔业中作为副渔获物捕获（Costa & Chaves，2006）。在 7 年的监测（2013-2019）中，手工船队上岸了数千条吉他鱼，其中许多还活着。特别令人担忧的是，该地区可能是吉他鱼的产地，因为怀孕的雌性经常上岸。

两个Pseudobatos spp。以“cação”的形式销售和销售（Bernardo等人，2020 年）。另一方面，Zapteryx brevirostirs 的商业价值较低，仅在渔获量较低时出售（Wosnick等人，2019 年））。在该地区，管理计划难以实施，因为所有吉他鱼都在合法捕捞具有商业利益的物种的同一地区发现。因此，禁捕区的建立和季节性关闭可能会导致渔民和保护主义者之间的冲突。以此为背景，我们决定实施一项付费释放计划，以减少兼捕对地方性和/或濒临灭绝的吉他鱼的影响。鉴于捕获后的高存活率（Wosnick & Freire，2013 年）、其保护状态、全年（5 月至 11 月）兼捕的丰度以及低商业价值，短鼻吉他鱼（图 1a）被选为补偿释放的有前途的物种。

该计划于 2010 年 5 月启动 - 第一阶段（2010-2016 年）非常具有挑战性，因为这是首次向当地渔业社区提议此类活动。6 年来，这些版本仅由一个人发布，没有任何资金支持。起初，活体动物以每只 1 美元的价格购买。出于后勤原因，一次仅释放了 10-15 条吉他鱼，约占 1 天内捕获的个体的 10%。在第一阶段，大约 350 条短鼻吉他鱼被送回大海。直到 2017 年，补偿性放生力度加大，与渔业社区的联系也有所改善，让更多人能够接触到这些动物。就在这个时候，节目的第二阶段开始了，更多的渔业社区成员致力于释放和建立研究团队。目前，五名研究人员和渔业殖民地的秘书执行这些活动。已经观察到渔业社区的行为发生了重大变化。在实现我们释放吉他鱼的承诺后，大多数渔民开始捐赠活体动物，而不会危及它们的活动和收入。这种合作使更多的吉他鱼得以获得并活着释放。这就是行为的变化，许多渔民在将短鼻吉他鱼从渔网中取出后立即开始释放它们，在第 2 阶段观察到的上岸量显着减少。 此外，现在被捕获个体的释放率从 60% 到 80% 不等，证明了与阶段 1 相比，阶段 2 的成功。一些渔民对这项活动非常投入，甚至在放生之前用自己的钱从同事那里购买活体动物（图 1b）。加工鱼的工人（图 1c）、鱼摊员工、渔民家庭成员（图 1d）、游客（图 1e）甚至当地名人（Cadu Scheffer，来自单口喜剧节目 TesãoPia）也采用了这项活动；图 1f)。迄今为止，已经释放了超过一千条短鼻吉他鱼（图 1g）。有趣的一点是，其他吉他鱼物种（图 1f，h）现在以较低的价格出售给我们的研究小组，这表明渔民越来越愿意帮助该物种的保护，即使这意味着减少他们的经济收益. 鱼摊员工、渔民家庭成员（图 1d）、游客（图 1e）甚至当地名人（Cadu Scheffer，来自单口喜剧节目 TesãoPia；图 1f）。迄今为止，已经释放了超过一千条短鼻吉他鱼（图 1g）。有趣的一点是，其他吉他鱼物种（图 1f，h）现在以较低的价格出售给我们的研究小组，这表明渔民越来越愿意帮助该物种的保护，即使这意味着减少他们的经济收益. 鱼摊员工、渔民家庭成员（图 1d）、游客（图 1e）甚至当地名人（Cadu Scheffer，来自单口喜剧节目 TesãoPia；图 1f）。迄今为止，已经释放了超过一千条短鼻吉他鱼（图 1g）。有趣的一点是，其他吉他鱼物种（图 1f，h）现在以较低的价格出售给我们的研究小组，这表明渔民越来越愿意帮助该物种的保护，即使这意味着减少他们的经济收益.

不幸的是，由于 COVID-19 大流行，发布计划在其成立 10 周年之际被中断。在接下来的几个月和几年里，必须克服许多挑战。许多渔民停止捕鱼，鱼市关闭了近 2 个月。因此，渔业社区的许多成员都遇到了经济困难。当活动恢复正常时，这会对吉他鱼的释放产生负面影响，之前释放的动物被出售以弥补部分经济损失。还有很多工作要做，大流行对发布计划的长期影响仍然不确定。标记吉他鱼以评估重新捕获率和监测捕获后的存活率对于评估该计划对吉他鱼保护的实际影响是必要的。还有，需要创建最佳捕鱼实践手册，以便我们计划的发布协议可以传播到其他捕鱼社区。我们希望尽快返回活动并开始我们倡议的第三阶段。此阶段将包括寻求财政支持以促进其他吉他鱼物种的释放。通过这样做，将有可能评估“付费保护”策略的潜力，以及它对其他也需要紧急保护措施的物种的进化。此阶段将包括寻求财政支持以促进其他吉他鱼物种的释放。通过这样做，将有可能评估“付费保护”策略的潜力，以及它对其他也需要紧急保护措施的物种的进化。此阶段将包括寻求财政支持以促进其他吉他鱼物种的释放。通过这样做，将有可能评估“付费保护”策略的潜力，以及它对其他也需要紧急保护措施的物种的进化。