GEO Brasil - UNEP

the State of Fishing Resowrces:
Fish Extraction and Agua culture
the state of environment in Brazil
selling bait also started to appear On account of the parallel
trade in surplus bait, this activity was forbidden and the
tuna boats were obliged to capture their own baits Small
nets were adapted to the fleet, which started to attack
abundant shoals of small pelagic fish, but always in
sheltered regions At the time, Brazilian sardines were elected
the best live bait, for they were the most abundant and had
excellent survival rates Anchovies were more fragile and
needed more careful handling after being captured, since
they died very easily With the recovery of sardine stocks
between 1993 and 1996, the pressure against live bait fishery
diminished, but today, due to the new crisis, criticisms and
conflicts are back
Especially in the last decade, artisan fishery in the Lagoa
dos Patos estuary and the Mirim-Mangueira lagoon
complex, in the State of Rio Grande Do Sul, has suffered
from clear drops in fish stocks and severe difficulties for
fishery and fishermen The reasons for this situation have
been the use of predatory equipment and accentuated
fishery efforts, as well as the presence of fishermen from
other regions intensely exploiting the environment in the
area, where they only stayed for short periods Management
actions have been successfully implemented in the area
(CEPERG/IBAMA, 2001)
4 Fishery Distribution Marketing
The marketing process of artisan fishery is dominated by
an intermediary network that includes individual resellers,
generally community members specialised in buying and
selling fish, as well as representatives from big companies
that buy and finance production As the surplus of this
trade is reduced and irregular, internal accumulation of
capital is very difficult, which makes the producers
dependent on this source of financing in the form of advance
payments, opening of credit accounts at food, ice and oil
supply points, as well as fishing supplies shops (Diegues,
op cit)
Dias-Neto & Dornelles (op cit), when analysing Brazilian
exports and imports between 1985 and 1994, observed that
the former presented an overall tendency to decrease,
despite natural fluctuations The figures dropped from
62,130 tonnes in 1985 to 35,561 tonnes in 1994 The revenues
varied from US$ 176 million in 1985 to US$ 168 million in
1994 The exports in 1998 and 1999 were 31,635 tonnes and
36,361 tonnes, respectively, while the revenues were US$
121 million and US$ 137 million, showing, therefore, a light
recovery in the last year (IBAMA, 2000 and 2001)
As for fishery imports, those authors noticed that they
presented a strong tendency to increase in volume, growing
from 38,624 tonnes in 1985 to 157,462 tonnes in 1994 The
values presented similar trends, (from US$ 45 million in
1985 to US$ 229 million in 1994) The 1998 and 1999 data
showed that the growth trend continued, despite the drop
observed in the last year The amounts reached 197,366
tonnes and 168,960 tons, while the values were about US$
433 million and US$ 288 million, respectively (IBAMA, 2000
and 2001)
5 Continental Extractive Fishery
The situation of continental fishery in Brazil is analysed
below according to each water basin:
a) The Amazon Basin has been analysed by several
authors (Bailey & Petrere, 1989; Merona, 1990; Saints
& Blacksmith, 1999; Isaac & Ruffino in IBAMA, 2000)
It is particularly heterogeneous in terms of space and
time, has high levels of specific diversity and high
yield Commercial fishery is followed up in a 100 to
1,000-km radius of great urban centres, revealing that
this sort of fishery involves a great number of species
(Bailey & Petrere (1989) The species captured vary
according to time and space, but the most frequent
ones are: the South American silver croaker
(Plagioscion squamosissimus), the great cichlids,
especially the peacock bass (Cichla Ocellaris), the
prochilods, particularly jaraquis (Semaprochilodus
insignis and S taeniatus), the curimatã (Prochilodus
nigricans), the anostomids and hemiodonts, and the
black pacu or tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum)
(Petrere, 1978, 1978 b, 1982; Bailey & Petrere, 1989)
The only fresh water species targeted by industrial
fishing is the laulao catfish (Brachyplatystoma
vaillanti), found only in the Amazon river estuary and
exported to the south of the Brazil and abroad
In the specific case of the laulao catfish, the greatest
production occurred in 1977 (28,829 tons), after which
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