Volume 70

Temporal Changes in a Small-scale Artisanal Reef Fishery in Brazil: Management Efficiency and Technological Transformations


Authors
Ferreirada Silveira,M;M.Maida;L.Messias;B.PadovaniFerreira
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Other Information


Date: November, 2017


Pages: 286-287


Event: Proceedings of the Seventy Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute


City: Merida, Yucatan


Country: México

Abstract

The small-scale artisanal reef fishery of Tamandaré, northeastern coast of Brazil, is characterized by its great variety of gears and fishing strategies as well as its economic, social, cultural and ecological relevance in the area. The municipality is located in the Costa dos Corais MPA and holds the first no-take zone established 18 years ago. Fishery data from 1999 (when no-take zone was implemented but measures where not yet effective) and 2017 was compared to evaluate two scenarios separated by intense socio-economic transformations. Results revealed structural changes in the fleet including the total substitution of sail, the traditional “jangadas”, for small outboard motors as the main strategy for access to fishing grounds farther from the coast and an increase in the number of non-professional fishers, which currently exceeds the number of professionals. Fishing on the shallow reefs continues to be carried out dominantly by gears of line and spear, with replacement of rudimentary makeshift spears by pressure spear guns as a crucial technological innovation. There was a decrease in traditional mullet fishing attributed mostly to fading of mullet fishing culture and also due to alternative employment and tourist boat movements. Regarding fishery resources, grey parrotfish Sparisoma axillare remained as main component of the catch (over 40%) while mullets Mugil spp. declined and small epinephelids and squirrelfishes increased in representativeness. Trends in catches reveal consequences of fishery innovation, but also an increase in opportunistic fishing associated with a larger coastal population. A possible effect of the no-take zone is indicated. CPUE, mean fish length, tourism interactions and a fisher self-monitoring initiative, aimed for self-empowerment and co-management, are discussed.

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