A resource with the potential to boost the Amazon economy and promote sustainable development in the region is being neglected. The nine states making up the biome - Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins - produced 225 thousand tons of fish in 2015, a quantity that has stagnated since then: while national fish farming grows 3% to 5% per year, the current Amazon figures do not exceed 174 thousand tons. A shortage of resources and technical training for the more than 311.4 thousand people who work in the sector are the factors that make up the scenario and prevent the growth of communities.
The data is part of the study developed by Instituto Escolhas “Solução debaixo d’água: o potencial esquecido da piscicultura amazônica” [Choice Institute “Underwater solution: the forgotten potential of Amazonian fish farming”], which provides an unprecedented survey of the current panorama of native fish production in the Amazon. The biome holds 59% of the entire territory of Brazil, but only 10.5% of the national value of investment credits, equivalent to R$5.3 million, are allocated to local businesses, around 61 thousand, according to the geospatial mapping carried out. In this regard, the researchers estimate that the growth of fish farming – an agricultural activity that consists of raising fish in controlled environments – in the region will be 4.6% within years.
This level is lower than the benefits that fish farming brings to the environment, compared to other types of economies. In the case of extensive livestock farming, for example, one of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon, 16 hectares of land are needed to produce one ton of meat. The production of the same number of fish requires between 5% and 10% of this area. Among the highlights, Rondônia is one of the states with the largest quantities, totaling 57.2 thousand tons in 2022, followed by Maranhão (50.3 thousand tons), Mato Grosso (42.8 thousand tons) and Pará (25.1 thousand tons), according to data from Associação Brasileira de Piscicultura (PeixeBR) [Brazilian Fish Farming Association].
WATER RESERVOIRS
The few investments destined for the Amazon are not only reflected in the low technical training that the biome receives. The structural part of all businesses is also affected. Instituto Escolhas survey shows that there is an inactivity rate of 19% of water reservoirs: in total, 62.2 thousand hectares are active, and 14.2 thousand hectares are inactive. On small properties, this percentage can reach 20%. In the analysis made considering the productivity of each state, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Maranhão could double their production without expanding these reservoirs, however, the low yield does not always compensate for the resources allocated to maintaining production.
Fish farming is a solution for the Amazonian communities
Fish farming in the Amazon is considered an undeniable source of benefits. Whether from the economic perspective, helping to develop communities, or from the sustainability focus it promotes throughout the territory. Sergio Leitão, executive director of the Institute, explains that this scenario is possible due to the low environmental impacts that fish farming has, thus benefiting an entire business chain. “It is much less intensive in terms of areas. The activity is being neglected at a time when there is so much talk about investments in bioeconomy. The study shows that 95% of fish farmers in the Amazon are small farmers, family farmers…”
A robust industrial system is needed to take the Amazon fish farming market to other regions of Brazil. “Pará produces 25 thousand tons of fish. It receives fish from Maranhão and Mato Grosso. Instead of producing for its own consumption and sending it abroad, it is now paying other states. There is a lack of investment in the production of fingerlings and Pará does not produce industrial feed to meet this [domestic and foreign] consumption. It has an industrial park focused on processing, but it does not meet the needs of native fish and the state is not self-sufficient regarding the production of basic inputs for fish farming, fingerlings and industrial feed,” emphasizes Leitão.
Mapping enables creation of public policies
The fragility of existing data regarding fish farming is a problem that also needs to be resolved so that production can reach new levels. Without a concrete mapping, the creation of public policies to strengthen the sector will not be possible. Fisheries engineer Marcos Brabo, professor at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and president of the Federação Nacional de Engenheiros de Pesca do Brasil (Faep-BR) [National Federation of Fisheries Engineers of Brazil], affirms that reliable information is fundamental for the fish production chain to be effective. “So, this is the starting point for any planning. This quantification is essential because it brings to light a real number of the importance of this activity.”
The low productivity of fish in the Amazon is not linked to factors involving climate change. Fish farming is faced with structural issues. For those who observe the sector, the maturation of the market depends on the productivity of the sector, professionalization and training of producers. For Brabo, it is no longer necessary to dig new fish farms to produce more. “We have to differentiate between two things: we are talking about captive production, fish farming, and controlled environment. In this context, we have to understand that the main species produced in the Amazon are from the group of round fish, tambaqui, tambatinga and tambacu.”
According to the researcher, this fish production almost exclusively meets the demand of the Amazon states, which should change. "To achieve this, the production chain needs to be structured, because the demand in the Amazon states is mainly for whole fresh fish. This low level of professionalization results in a much smaller volume of fish than the structure we have. Understanding this, you understand the fragility of the available statistical data - knowing who produces, where they produce, how much they produce and how they produce, this is a diagnosis of the activity", adds the engineer.
Expansion into parallel markets that encourage increased productivity is one of the strategic measures. “The demand is in public markets and street markets, and to conquer new markets, we need industrialization and value addition so that we can have frozen fish fillets inserted into other markets, such as the Central-West region, especially the Federal District, which pays very well; and the Rio-São Paulo axis, which is very important. The idea is to popularize the consumption of these species,” explained the professor.
Amazon shrimp also faces low productivity
It’s not just fish which have been scarce. Amazonian shrimp have also disappeared from the waters of the state of Macapá. However, unlike the situation of fish, facing structural challenges within a controlled production chain – that is, in artisanal tanks –, crustaceans are a source of extractivism: fishermen go into nature and capture them. Marcos Brabo believes that three factors are essential for this scenario: predatory fishing, water pollution and deforestation. “There has been a sudden, very large drop in production. This is not only happening in Amapá, but also in Pará, especially in Marajó and Baixo Tocantins. Could climate change be influencing this? It could, but I don’t believe it is the main factor.”
The solution advocated by the fisheries engineer is the creation of effective public policies that act in monitoring and environmental education for the population. “Some equipment needs to be banned, such as the matapi [which captures shrimp]. It is not just about establishing a specific regulatory framework, it is about environmental education, supervising and monitoring actions of this regulation so that we can verify whether it is really having a practical effect, that is, adequate environmental management of resources and a more careful look at these diverse enterprises that promote aquatic pollution and the destruction of habitats”, concludes Brabo.
PRACTICE
Riverside fisherwoman Rosalina Batista da Silva, a resident of the Mazagão Velho bridge community in Amapá, explained the disappearance of the crustacean in the region. "I live in the Mazagão Velho bridge and I'm part of our community association. We've always worked with shrimp. I have been fishing since I was 10 years old," she said. "Since 2002, shrimp has disappeared to such an extent that there wasn't even enough for us to eat. Before, we would catch 10 tons of shrimp, there were 42 families. In 2022, we didn't collect even 1 kilo of shrimp," Rosalina reported.
This fact raises concerns both in the production chain and among researchers in the region. These researchers participate in events that discuss the strategic recovery of shrimp stocks to strengthen the market, which considers the delicacy a typical dish. The 8th Brazilian Workshop on Biodiversity and Biotechnology in the Amazon, held by Rede Bionorte, included in its program the 1st State Conference on Amazon Shrimp in Macapá. There are hypotheses regarding the disappearance of shrimp. Among them, climate change is a factor cited by scholars on the subject. At the event, strategic measures were discussed to contain the problem.
Professor Jô Farias added that the debate should involve all links in the production chain and public bodies. The regulation involves three fundamental actions, according to him: "Development of fishing regulations, a policy to encourage the raising of captive shrimp and the quality of the shrimp produced."
Coordinator of participatory management at the Ministry of Health, Cristiano Quaresma emphasized the urgency of regulating fishing activities to prevent the collapse of stocks. "At the last meeting of the Northern Permanent Committee, the demand for regulating Amazonian shrimp was made. The demand came from fishermen from Pará, who reported a sharp drop in shrimp production and proposed solutions to the situation," explained Quaresma.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The production of Liberal Amazon is one of the initiatives of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Liberal Group and the Federal University of Pará. The articles involving research from UFPA are revised by professionals from the academy. The translation of the content is also provided by the agreement, through the research project ET-Multi: Translation Studies: multifaces and multisemiotics.
