Entendendo a pesca de pequena escala: uma abordagem ecológica, social e econômica

Abstract

Marine fishing resources have great economic, social and ecological importance, guaranteeing the generation of income and food security for workers directly and indirectly linked to the fishing industry. The ecological dynamics of these resources determines the fishing activity which, in turn, causes changes in the exploited stocks. These changes affect the entire ecosystem and not only the most commercialized species due to by-catch, discarding and the removal of prey or predators. However, in developing countries, the use of marine resources is little or nothing regulated which leads to a lack of adequate management. Thus, the management of this activity requires an ecosystem assessment focusing not only on resources, but also on fishing and users of resources. Thus, in this work, ecosystemic and economic approaches are used to generate information that can be used to subsidize policies of ecosystem management of the fishing activity. The first chapter combines the scientific knowledge and the fishers’ traditional knowledge for the ecosystemic modeling of fishing, opening the way for the use of the methodology for the elaboration of fishery management plans focused on the ecosystem. In this chapter, we conclude that fishermen can be reliable sources of information on the biology and ecology of the main target species of the fishing activity, contributing to the creation of models on the fishing dynamics that can subsidize effective actions of ecosystem management. The second chapter provides modeling of the small-scale fishing value chain, identifying stakeholder participation and how economic benefits are distributed along the chain. In this case study, it was concluded that the food security of the fishing community is of greater importance in receiving the fish compared to the surrounding tourist communities. Thus, tourism is no longer seen as the recipient of much of the local production. In the third chapter we analyze the combination of production, economic and fishermen indicators (social) between communities with a degree of dependence on tourism. Tourism can be seen as an alternative source of income in coastal communities since well managed. The fourth chapter presents an analysis that aims to describe the characteristics of the composition of landed species, aiming at a better understanding of the dynamics of the socio-cultural system that influence the capture of natural resources. Under the dwindling and growing tourism landscape, action is urgently needed to carefully design managed tourism and well-regulated commercial fishing for the entire coastal area. The final chapter deals with fishing practiced in reef environments. The main objective of this study was to identify the main drivers of reef fishing for the small-scale sector along a fishing pressure gradient in eight communities in northeastern Brazil. The studied communities were divided into fishing pressure categories to explore whether species characteristics are related to socioeconomic conditions and to compare their fishing characteristics. The results suggest that economic factors are the variables that explain the variability of the landings of reef species among communities. This knowledge can be useful for the development of effective management plans that can economically benefit fishermen.