GEO Brasil - UNEP

the State of Fishing resowrces:
Fish extraction and Agua Culture
the state of environment in Brazil
1 Potentialities
The environmental conditions of the waters of the sea along
the Brazilian coast are basically determined by three
currents:
a) the North Brazil Current, which flows towards the
Northeast;
b) the Brazil Current, which flows southwards, both
resulting from the South Equatorial Current, which
comes from the African coast and branches off in the
mentioned directions when it reaches Brazil, near João
Pessoa, in the State of Paraíba; and
c) the Falklands Current (Figure 2) The first two have
similar characteristics (high in temperature and
salinity, and poor in nutrient salts) These parameters,
together with the deep thermocline in the areas
covered by the currents, do not allow the nutrient
salts to reach the tropic zone and favour primary
production, with a consequent low productivity of
the sea in these regions The Falklands Current is
characterised by its low temperature and salinity It
penetrates the coastal region of Rio Grande do Sul
and reaches parallel 34-36° S, where it joins the Brazil
Current and forms the Subtropical Convergence This
current presents a high concentration of nutrient
salts
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