GEO Brasil - UNEP

The productivity of the North is high thanks to the Amazon
River, which pours a great volume of fresh water with high
levels of suspended land material When this material
deposits on the river estuary’s continental platform, it helps
to make the coast of the states of Pará and Amapá
particularly productive, especially in deep waters The
Northeast, on the other hand, due to the predominant
characteristics of the Brazil Current, presents low
productivity of fishery resources In the Southeast and
South, the influence of the Falklands Current water mass,
and the resurgence or the penetration of the South Atlantic
Central Water – SACW enable larger fish abundance,
especially up to the Cabo Frio region The resurgence occurs
as a result of the combination of different factors, such as
changes in direction of the Brazil Current, seabed
topography, and the effect of predominant winds in the
area
F igure 1 - S ea Current of the B razilian coas t
Orange Cape
North Region
C. C. North of Brazil
C. South Equatorial
BRAZIL
South Region
Chuí
Northeast Region
C. of Brazil
Southeast Region
the state of environment in Brazil
The dominant tropical and subtropical characteristics
contribute to determine the absence of large stocks, which
explains the concentrated fishing efforts on those few
species that allow, in terms of concentration and potential,
a sustainable and profitable economic activity
C. of the Falklands
200m
Subtropical Convergence
The first attempts to estimate the potential of marine and
estuarine fishery along the Brazilian coast were made by
Laevastu (1961) and Richardson (1964) These attempts serve
only as indicators of more promising fishing areas and
resources In fact, Hempel (1971) provided more detailed
and precise data (an estimated total of 1,725x10³ tonnes per
year) (Paiva, 1996) Yesaki (1971) dealt only with demersal
fish resources along the coast of Brazil The estimates
presented by Neiva & Moura (1977) and Dias-Neto and
Mosque (1988) distinguished regions and environments
(pelagic and demersal) Both focused on the resources up
to the depth of 200 m and suggested a total potential varying
between 1,400x10³ and 1,700x10³ tonnes per year The South
and North were predominant, whereas the Northeast had a
minor participation
With a view to providing missing information on potential
resources all over the Exclusive Economic Zone - EEZ, the
“Programme for Assessment of Sustainable Potential of
Living Resources in the Exclusive Economic Zone” (REVIZEE
– Programa de Avaliação do Potencial Sustentável de
Source: modified - Matsuura - 1995
Recursos Vivos na Zona Econômica Exclusiva) was
established as a result of the main goal to be achieved by
the IV Sectorial Plan for Marine Resources (PSRM), in effect
from 1994 to 1998 The V PSRM, valid from 1999 to 2003,
maintained the Programme in its action strategies as a
“priority research” line (CIRM, 1999)
Despite the limited productivity of Brazilian EEZ, there are
some signs of new resources that, even if restricted in
terms of income, may open up new working fronts for the
diversification of fishery efforts (MMA/IBAMA, 2001)
However, preliminary information indicates that, although
it is possible to increase national fishery, Brazil is unlikely
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