GEO Brasil - UNEP

activity was initiated in the late 50’s, and in 1995 Brazilian
production was 30,000 tonnes, ie, 5 percent of the
total catches in the Atlantic and adjacent seas, as
demonstrated by official ICCAT statistics (IBAMA,
1998a) Although the 1996 and 1997 figures show an
expressive growth in production, Brazilian participation
in the total Atlantic catches is still very modest (IBAMA,
1997) The total 1998 and 1999 production, including
dogfish, was 44,236 tonnes and 39,262 tons, respectively
(IBAMA, 2000 and 2001) According to ICCAT, the most
important species are either fully exploited or overfished
in the South Atlantic, except for the skipjack tuna (Dias-
Neto, 1999a)
3 Conflicts over the Use of Resources
It is important to mention the conflict and competition
between artisan and industrial fishery The State’s historical
position in relation to the conflicts tends to favour capitalist
entrepreneurs, either by clear omission in this fight between
two different and antagonistic segments, or by prioritising
economic aspects over class conflicts, thus strengthening
the entrepreneurs’ control of small producers The State,
through induced strategies, invested massively in big
companies and caused capital concentration to increase It
also ignored the wealth and complexity of small producers’
endogenous organisational models and stressed dual
aspects - old versus modern - in independent spheres of
activities, considering small fishermen as reactionary,
uncultured and predatory individuals, seen as incapable to
assimilate the technological standards expected by the State
and the industrial bourgeoisie (Loreiro, 1985)
In the Southeast and South, the tuna fleet fishing on
skipjack tuna engaged in live bait fishery, triggering a series
of conflicts with local artisan fishermen and tourists This
sort of fishery started in the late 70’s and quickly developed
during the 80’s Trawlers using fishing nets initially captured
the live bait Later, small fleets specialised in capturing and
the state of environment in Brazil
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