Artisanal fisheries of native spiny lobster Panulirus meripurpuratus and smoothtail spiny lobster Panulirus laevicauda in the northeast region of Brazil.

Spiny lobsters (Family Palinuridae) are a popular seafood in Brazil. We characterize the fishing activity and analyze the population of lobster species captured in the coast of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil. We monitored the landings of lobster fishermen at the start of the fishing season, from May 24 to November 21, in 2010, at Pirangi beach, the main landing point in the metropolitan area of Natal.