Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Challenge of Managing Amazonian Small-Scale Fisheries in Brazil

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Viability and Sustainability of Small-Scale Fisheries in Latin America and The Caribbean

Part of the book series: MARE Publication Series ((MARE,volume 19))

Abstract

Amazonian fisheries in Brazil contribute to the food security of over 20 million people who are mostly poor. However, multiple examples suggest that freshwater fish stocks may be under the same overfishing threats observed in marine fisheries, in addition to all the risks imposed by infrastructure development projects. While such threats may push some of these vulnerable people to the edge as some fisheries collapse, others will be pushed toward makeshift or elaborated solutions which can help them to maintain or restore local fisheries. In this chapter, we first adopt a theoretical approach to explore the main threats to Amazonian small-scale fisheries and their direct impacts on people’s livelihoods. We then move on to an empirical solution-based comparison between different types of co-management initiatives, using case studies developed within a protected area framework and community-based arrangements. We expect to show how small-scale fishers themselves can be the best, and sometimes the only, alternative for management. The different kinds of management broaden the application of eventual patterns, discrepancies, limitations, and solutions identified for Amazon to inland fisheries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agostinho AA, Gomes LC, Veríssimo S, Okada EK (2005) Flood regime, dam regulation and fish in the Upper Paraná River: effects on assemblage attributes, reproduction and recruitment. Rev Fish Biol Fish 14(1):11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allan JD, Abell R, Hogan Z, Revenga C, Taylor BW, Welcomme RL, Winemiller K (2005) Overfishing of inland waters. Bioscience 55(12):1041–1051

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almeida OT, Lorenzen K, McGrath D (2009) Fishing agreements in the lower Amazon: for gain and restraint. Fish Manag Ecol 16:61–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson JT, Rojas JS, Flecker AS (2009) High-quality seed dispersal by fruit-eating fishes in Amazonian floodplain habitats. Oecologia 161(2):279–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrade LCA, Amaral ESR, Silva NB, Queiroz HL (2011) Recount pirarucu: a method for evaluating the quality of the pirarucu counts. Uakari 7(1):29–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Barletta M, Jaureguizar AJ, Baigun C, Fontoura NF, Agostinho AA, Almeida-Val VMF, Val AL, Torres RA, Jimenes-Segura LF, Giarrizzo T, Fabré NN, Batista VS, Lasso C, Taphorn DC, Costa MF, Chaves PT, Vieira JP, Corrêa MF (2010) Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America: a continental overview with emphasis on neotropical systems. J Fish Biol 76(9):2118–2176

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barletta M, Blaber SJM, Craig JF (2016) Fish and aquatic habitat conservation in South America. J Fish Biol 89(1):1–3

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Mauthe M, Oleson KLL, Zafindrasilivonona B (2013) The total economic value of small-scale fisheries with a characterization of post-landing trends: an application in Madagascar with global relevance. Fish Res 147:175–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barthem RB, de Brito Ribeiro MCL, Petrere M Jr (1991) Life strategies of some long-distance migratory catfish in relation to hydroelectric dams in the Amazon Basin. Biol Conserv 55(3):339–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basurto X, Coleman E (2010) Institutional and ecological interplay for successful self-governance of community-based fisheries. Ecol Econ 69:1094–1103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum JK, Worm B (2009) Cascading top-down effects of changing oceanic predator abundances. J Anim Ecol 78(4):699–714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayley P (1989) Amazon fisheries: assessment methods, current status and management options. In: Dodge D (ed) Canadian special publication of fisheries and aquatic sciences, pp 385–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Begossi A (1998) Resilience and neo-traditional populations: the caiçaras (Atlantic Forest) and caboclos (Amazon, Brazil). In: Linking social and ecological systems: management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 129–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Begossi A (2002) The sustainable development reserve of Mamirauá, Amazonas State, Brazil. Hirtshals, Denmark

    Google Scholar 

  • Begossi A (2010) Small-scale fisheries in Latin America: management models and challenges. MAST 9:5–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Begossi A (2014) Ecological, cultural, and economic approaches to managing artisanal fisheries. Environ Dev Sustain 16:5–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernard E, Penna LAO, Araújo E (2014) Downgrading, downsizing, degazettement, and reclassification of protected areas in Brazil. Conserv Biol 28(4):939–950

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brondizio ES, Moran EF, Mausel P, Wu Y (1994) Land use change in the Amazon estuary: patterns of caboclo settlement and landscape management. Hum Ecol 22(3):249–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castello L (2004) A method to count Pirarucu Arapaima gigas: fishers, assessment, and management. N Am J Fish Manag 24(2):379–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castello L, Viana JP, Watkins G, Pinedo-Vasquez M, Luzadis VA (2009) Lessons from integrating fishers of arapaima in small-scale fisheries management at the Mamirauá Reserve, Amazon. Environ Manag 43:197–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castello L, McGrath DG, Beck PSA (2011) Resource sustainability in small-scale fisheries in the Lower Amazon floodplains. Fish Res 110(2):356–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro F, McGrath D (2003) Moving toward sustainability in the local management of floodplain lake fisheries in the Brazilian Amazon. Hum Organ 62:123–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cinner J, Fuentes MPB, Randriamahazo H (2009) Exploring social resilience in Madagascar’s marine protected areas. Ecol Soc 14(1):41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello C, Ovando D, Hilborn R, Gaines SD, Deschenes O, Lester SE (2012) Status and solutions for the world’s unassessed fisheries. Science 338(6106):517–520

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de Vos BI, van Tatenhove JPM (2011) Trust relationships between fishers and government: new challenges for the co-management arrangements in the Dutch flatfish industry. Mar Policy 35(2):218–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fabré NN, Barthem RB (2005) O manejo da pesca dos grandes bagres migradores: Piramutaba e dourada no eixo Solimões-Amazonas. Ibama, Pró Várzea, Manaus

    Google Scholar 

  • Fearnside PM (1999) Social impacts of Brazil’s Tucurui Dam. Environ Manag 24:483–495

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fearnside PM (2006) Deforestation in Amazonia: dynamics, impacts and control. Acta Amazon 36(3):395–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fearnside PM (2014) Impacts of Brazil’s Madeira River Dams: unlearned lessons for hydroelectric development in Amazonia. Environ Sci Pol 38:164–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fearnside PM (2015) Amazon dams and waterways: Brazil’s Tapajós Basin plans. Ambio 44(5):426–439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felizola Freire KM, Negreiros Aragão JA, da Rocha Araújo AR, Ávila da Silva AO, dos Santos Bispo MC, Velasco G, Carneiro MH, Silva Gonçalves FD, Annes Keunecke K, Tomasino Mendonça J, Moro PS, Motta FS, Olavo G, Ricardo Pezzuto P, Filho Santana R, Aguiar dos Santos R, Trindade-Santos, Airton Vasconcelos J, Vianna M, Divovich E (2015) Reconstruction of catch statistics for Brazilian marine waters (1950–2010). In: Freire KMF, Pauly D (eds) Fisheries catch reconstructions for Brazil’s mainland and oceanic islands, pp 3–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira J, Aragão LEOC, Barlow J, Barreto P, Berenguer E, Bustamante M, Gardner TA, Lees AC, Lima A, Louzada J, Parry L, Peres CA, Pardini R, Pompeu Ps, Tabarelli M, Zuanon J (2014) Brazil’s environmental leadership at risk. Science 346(6210):706–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fittkau EJ, Irmler U, Junk WJ, Reiss F, Schmidt GW (1975) Productivity, biomass, and population dynamics in Amazonian water bodies. In: Golley FB, Medina E (eds) Tropical ecological systems. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, pp 289–311

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia A, Tello S, Vargas G, Duponchelle F (2008) Patterns of commercial fish landings in the Loreto region (Peruvian Amazon) between 1984 and 2006. Fish Physiol Biochem 35(1):53–67

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goeschl T, Igliori DC (2006) Property rights for biodiversity conservation and development: extractive reserves in the Brazilian Amazon. Dev Chang 37:427–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goulding M (1980) Fishes and the forest. University of California Press, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez NL, Hilborn R, Defeo O (2011) Leadership, social capital and incentives promote successful fisheries. Nature 2:5–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallwass G, Silvano RAM (2015) Patterns of selectiveness in the Amazonian freshwater fisheries: implications for management. J Environ Plan Manag 59(9):1537–1559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallwass G, Lopes PFM, Juras AA, Silvano RAM (2011) Fishing effort and catch composition of urban market and rural villages in Brazilian Amazon. Environ Manag 47:188–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallwass G, Lopes PF, Juras AA, Silvano RAM (2013a) Fishers’ knowledge identifies environmental changes and fish abundance trends in impounded tropical rivers. Ecol Appl 23(2):392–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallwass G, Lopes PFM, Juras AA, Silvano RAM (2013b) Behavioral and environmental influences on fishing rewards and the outcomes of alternative management scenarios for large tropical rivers. J Environ Manag 128:274–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoeinghaus DJ, Agostinho AA, Gomes LC, Pelicice FM, Okada EK, Latini JD, Kashiwaqui EAL, Winemiller KO (2009) Effects of river impoundment on ecosystem services of large tropical rivers: embodied energy and market value of artisanal fisheries. Conserv Biol 23(5):1222–1231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IBGE (2016) Ferramenta Cidades. www.cidades.ibge.gov.br. Accessed 9 Sept 2016

  • ISA (2015) Instituto Socioambiental. www.socioambiental.org. Accessed 20 Sept 2015

  • Isaac VJ, de Almeida MC (2011) El Consumo de pescado en la amazonía brasileña. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Isaac VJ, Ruffino ML (1996) Population dynamics of tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum Cuvier, in the Lower Amazon, Brazil. Fish Manag Ecol 3(4):315–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King DM, Sutinen JG (2010) Rational noncompliance and the liquidation of Northeast groundfish resources. Mar Policy 34(1):7–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurance WF, Cochrane MA, Bergen S, Fearnside PM, Delamônica P, Barber C, D’Angelo S, Fernandes T (2001) The future of the Brazilian Amazon. Science 291(5503):438–439

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lima DM (1999) Equity, sustainable development, and biodiversity preservation: some questions about ecological partnerships in the Brazilian Amazon. In: Padoch C, Ayres JM, Pinedo-Vasquez M, Henderson A (eds) Várzea – diversity, development and conservation of Amazonia’s whitewater floodplains. New York Botanical Garden, New York, pp 247–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopes PFM, Silvano RAM, Begossi A (2011) Extractive and sustainable development reserves in Brazil: resilient alternatives to fisheries? J Environ Plan Manag 54(4):421–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacCord PFL, Silvano RAM, Ramires M, Clauzet M, Begossi A (2007) Dynamics of artisanal fisheries in two Brazilian Amazonian reserves: implications to co-management. Hydrobiologia 583(1):365–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClanahan TR, Castilla JC, White AT, Defeo O (2008) Healing small-scale fisheries by facilitating complex socio-ecological systems. Rev Fish Biol Fish 19:33–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath D, Castro F, Futemma AC, Amaral BD, Calabria J (1993) Fisheries and the evolution of resource management on the lower Amazon floodplain. Hum Ecol 21(2):167–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath D, Almeida OT, Merry FD (2007) The influence of community management agreements on household economic strategies: cattle grazing and fishing agreements on the lower Amazon floodplain. Int J Commons 1(1):67–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath DG, Castello L, Almeida OT, Estupiñán GMB (2015) Market formalization, governance, and the integration of community fisheries in the Brazilian Amazon. Soc Nat Resour 28(5):513–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nepstad D, McGrath D, Alencar A, Barros AC, Carvalho G, Santilli M, Diaz V, M. del C. (2002) Frontier governance in Amazonia. Science 295(5555):629–631

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pelicice FM, Agostinho AA (2008) Fish-passage facilities as ecological traps in large neotropical rivers. Conserv Biol 22(1):180–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrere-Jr M, Borgues BR, Agudelo CE, Corrales GB (2004) Review of the large catfish fisheries in the upper Amazon and the stock depletion of piraíba (Brachyplatystoma filamentosumLichtenstein). Rev Fish Biol Fish 14(4):403–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponton D, Vauchel P (1998) Immediate downstream effects of the Petit-Saut dam on young neotropical fish in a large tributary of the Sinnamary River (French Guiana, South America). Regul Rivers: Res Manage 14(3):227–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz HL (2005) A reserva de desenvolvimento sustentável Mamirauá. Estudos Avançados 19(54):183–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz HL (2011) Protected areas of sustainable use, involvement of social actors, and biodiversity conservation in the Várzea: the case of the Mamirauá Reserve—sharing conservation benefits in Central Amazonia, Brazil. In: Pinedo-Vasquez M, Ruffino ML, Padoch C, Brondizio ES (eds) The Amazon Varzea: the decade past and the decade ahead, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Queiroz HL, Sardinha AD (1999) A preservação e o uso sustentado dos pirarucus (Arapaima gigas, Osteoglossidae) em Mamirauá. In: Queiroz HL, Crampton WGR (eds) Estratégias para manejo dos recursos pesqueiros em Mamirauá. SCM, CNPq/MCT, Brasilia, pp 108–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Sá-Oliveira JC, Ferrari SF, Vasconcelos HCG, Mendes-Junior RNG, Araújo AS, Costa-Campos CE, Nascimento WS, Isaacs VJ (2016) Restoration effects of the riparian forest on the intertidal fish fauna in an urban area of the Amazon River. Sci World J 2016:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva PP (2004) From common property to co-management: lessons from Brazil’s first maritime extractive reserve. Mar Policy 28:419–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvano RAM, Ramires M, Zuanon J (2009) Effects of fisheries management on fish communities in the floodplain lakes of a Brazilian Amazonian Reserve. Ecol Freshw Fish 18:156–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvano RAM, Hallwass G, Lopes PF, Ribeiro AR, Lima RP, Hasenack H, Juras AA, Begossi A (2014) Co-management and spatial features contribute to secure fish abundance and fishing yields in tropical Floodplain Lakes. Ecosystems 17(2):271–285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Torres M (ed) (2005) Amazônia revelada: Os descaminhos ao longo da BR-163. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brasília

    Google Scholar 

  • Veríssimo J (1895) A pesca na Amazônia. Livraria Clássica Alves & Companhia, Rio de Janeiro

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Viana JP, Damasceno JMB, Castello L (2004) Desarrollo del manejo pesquero comunitario en la Reserva de Mamiraua. In: Campos-Rozo C, Ulloa A (eds) Fauna socializada en America Latina. Fundacao Natura, MacArthur Foundation, Instituto Colombiano de Antropologia e Historia, Bogota, pp 335–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Welcomme RL (1999) A review of a model for qualitative evaluation of exploitation levels in multi-species fisheries. Fish Manag Ecol 6(1):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welcomme RL (2011) Review of the state of the world fishery resources: inland fisheries. FAO Fish Aquac Circ 942(2):1–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Welcomme RL, Cowx IG, Coates D, Béné C, Funge-Smith S, Halls A, Lorenzen K (2010) Inland capture fisheries. Philos Trans R Soc London B: Biol Sci 365(1554):2881–2896

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fishing ecology, management, and economics group - Departament of Ecology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil

    Priscila F. M. Lopes

  2. FIFO – Fisheries and Food Institute, Santos, SP, Brazil

    Priscila F. M. Lopes, Gustavo Hallwass, Alpina Begossi & Renato A. M. Silvano

  3. Federal University of Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil

    Gustavo Hallwass

  4. Capesca, Nepa, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Alpina Begossi

  5. Ecomar, Unisanta, Santos, Brazil

    Alpina Begossi

  6. Laboratório de Biologia Pesqueira e Manejo de Recursos Aquáticos, Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil

    Victória J. Isaac & Morgana Almeida

  7. Department of Ecology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Renato A. M. Silvano

Authors
  1. Priscila F. M. Lopes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gustavo Hallwass
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alpina Begossi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Victória J. Isaac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Morgana Almeida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Renato A. M. Silvano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Priscila F. M. Lopes .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Resources Department, Cinvestav Mérida, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Silvia Salas

  2. Development and Knowledge Sociology-Social Science Department, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany

    María José Barragán-Paladines

  3. Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

    Ratana Chuenpagdee

Appendix 10.1

Appendix 10.1

1.1 Methods: Case Study of Sustainable Development Reserves (Amazonas State) and Extractive Reserve of Ipaú-Anilzinho (Pará State)

For SDR, details of fish and fish landing samplings are described elsewhere (MacCord et al. 2007; Silvano et al. 2009). Here, the average capture per unit effort (CPUE) was compared between reserves through a t-test. For the ER, please refer to Hallwass et al. (2013b), Lopes et al. (2011), and Silvano et al. (2014). For this reserve, we compared the median results of CPUE, the number of fish in lakes, and the abundance of fish in lakes using a Kruskal-Wallis test, with the Student-Newman-Keuls a posteriori.

1.2 Methods: Case Study of Fishing Agreements in the Lower Amazon (Pará State)

We interviewed 97 fishers on basic socioeconomic information (age, residence time, main economic activity) and on their primary fishing spots, fishes caught, times of the year when the fish are more abundant, fishing technology used to catch the cited fish species, and to whom the fishers sell their catch. We also asked about which fish species had become more or less abundant in the region after the fishing agreement was implemented (formal or informal), the reasons for those changes in fish abundance, the primary fishing problems in the region, and what could be changed to improve the fisheries and the current agreement . During 14 days in the low water season and 14 days in the high water season, 15 families (initially) in each of the four communities completed a daily form describing their fishing activities (the number of fish caught per species per day and the crew size) on a voluntary basis.

To relate logCPUE to variations between periods of the year (low or high water), management regime (represented by the community), gear (gill net , hook and line, and others), and habitat (lake, river, flooded forest, stream, mixed habitats, and others), we ran a complete model with (mixed model) and without a random intercept (“fishers”). The latter performed better (L = 159.93; df = 24; p < 0.0001). As the proportion of gear used varied among communities, we also included an interaction term (community x gear) in the model. Likewise, we added a community x period interaction. For this analysis, we used the R package nlme, which is based on a Gaussian distribution. The full initial model was

$$ {\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{v}}=\left({\beta}_0+\mathrm{F}\right)+{\beta}_1\mathrm{V}+{\beta}_2\mathrm{P}+{\beta}_3\mathrm{G}+{\beta}_4\mathrm{H}+{\beta}_5\left(\mathrm{V}.\mathrm{G}\right)+{\beta}_6\left(\mathrm{V}.\mathrm{P}\right)\varepsilon $$

where Cv is the inferred CPUE of a given fish landing , V for community, P for period, G for gear used, H for habitat, and F for the random effect of the ith fisher, the prime symbol “.” indicates interaction terms, βs are the model estimated explanatory coefficients for each fixed effect, and ε is the residual error. We excluded eight landings that resulted in no fish, as this allowed for the residual error to have a mean of zero and to be normally distributed. Fishing events with no return were rare in all communities (IG = 0.87%; CA = 1.16%; MM = 2.54; AP = 0%), but these may be underestimated, as fishers may not have annotated unsuccessful landings. We evaluated the strength and uncertainty of models using Akaike information criterion (AIC), through comparisons between models using ΔAIC (difference between AICs; the best model has ΔAIC of zero). Akaike weights (w) were calculated to represent the relative likelihood of each model.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Lopes, P.F.M., Hallwass, G., Begossi, A., Isaac, V.J., Almeida, M., Silvano, R.A.M. (2019). The Challenge of Managing Amazonian Small-Scale Fisheries in Brazil. In: Salas, S., Barragán-Paladines, M., Chuenpagdee, R. (eds) Viability and Sustainability of Small-Scale Fisheries in Latin America and The Caribbean. MARE Publication Series, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76078-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation