Year round sunshine, sea and beaches. Footvolley, surf and lots of fish, right. Wrong. As far as the latter item is concerned, this country’s 8,400 km shoreline do not ensure an abundance of fish and other sea products, which makes the Brazilian coast a secondary fishing zone, that is, a low-yield region, despite the great diversity of species, as in the other tropical and subtropical regions of the planet.

Such low biomass is causes by the absence of the so-called coast resurgence area - a phenomenon entailed by currents which meet together and permit deep waters to come up to the surface, bringing nutrients which attract marine populations. This phenomenon occurs only in the cost of Cabo Frio, State of Rio de Janeiro, a famous fishery.

Besides adverse environmental conditions, the low Brazilian fishing yield is compounded by the full exploration or overfishing of some of the most valuable species. Between 1975 and 1979, the sea fishing yields reached 731,000 tons per year. Later, production dropped gradually until resumption of growth by 1983; the growth curve was maintained until 1989, when a new crisis set in and leveled off in the 90s. According to Ibama, at least 80% of all fish species harvested commercially in Brazil are overfished, that is, the harvest rate threatens the replenishment of stocks. Thus, the country is above the 70% average suggested by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Fund in the remainder of the planet.

Victimized by the policies implemented by the defunct Sudepe - Superintendency for the Development of Fishing, which valued productivity at the cost of research which would lead towards a situation of sustainability, the fishing industry still suffers under foreign competition in the harvest of fish as well as in capturing customers, because their rivals have managed to introduce products at more competitive prices in the Brazilian market.

Brazil: importer of fish

 

The Brazilian fishing industry exports to 50 countries and regularly to 15 of them, such as the United States, Argentina and Japan. This effort was insufficient to prevent this country from exporting $160 million and importing $410 million in fish products, a rate which is maintained and accounts for the continuing deficit in the Brazilian balance of trade. The industry still operates at a 30% waste rate, due mainly to the inadequate handling of fish products and a rapidly obsolescent fleet, which is another loss factor compared to foreign competition.

The industry generates 80,000 jobs and reaches 4 million persons, either directly or indirectly, in the country. But it is very far away from the 1985 record performance of 7.65 million tons. Twelve years later, production is no greater than 700,000 tons, a result which reflects the world trend toward slowing activities and the trend towards adopting farming instead of extractivism, aiming at preserving species and because of depletion of stocks.

Fresh Water

In the rivers and their tributaries, the situation is also critical. In the Amazonas and Tocantins estuaries, stocks have been heavily depleted, with direct impacts on production. The most heavily harvested fresh water fish, piramutaba, saw its exports reduced from $12 million to, at most $2 million, way below the $40 million that Paraná and Amapá shrimp companies obtain from shrimp exports.

The species was also impacted by the reduction of size, a direct reflection of extensive piramutaba harvesting at young ages. Not by coincidence, in the Pará and Amapá shores, shrimp husbanding is a respected practice, and the crustacean is not captured during egglaying nor growth periods, which has contributed in favor of the present sustainability and for the profits this management has yielded.

"One of the main problems faced by the Brazilian fishing industry is that since stocks, with very few exceptions, are not in a sustainability position, the fishermen obtain low profitability, hampering their competitiveness vis-à-vis foreign competitors," says Carlos Fernando Anicet Fischer, head of Ibama’s Fishing and Aquiculture department.

For Fischer, the Brazilian fish production is behind its real possibilities, because of the industry’s non-sustainability. "We could easily pass from the average of 650/700,000 tons per year to 900,000 tons, without major sacrifices," says he, reminding that fishing is the last mode of mass extractivism in this planet, but technological advances must be applied in benefit of preservation and not depletion and consequent extinction of species.

Little technology, no statistics

Roberto da Graça Lopes, researcher of the Fishing Institute of the São Paulo Secretariat for Agriculture and Supply, says that fishing is an industrial activity like any other one, demanding raw materials, industrial installations and market. Lopes see a number of problems afflicting the industry, from overharvesting and reduction of stocks of important species (see box) to lack of investment capability and consistent information.

Fisher pulls net surrounded by fish/foto: Roberto Setton/AE

Roberto Lopes states that São Paulo reflects the situation of the country. "The commercial and industrial machinery isn’t fine tuned, our fleet is not equipped as it should be and, since the demand of the domestic market is not supplied, foreign competition takes up space that we should occupy," criticizes the researcher, adding that although fishing will not reach beef proportions, at least it has a potential to supply the domestic market in a more comfortable position.

"We need better figures to better manage the industry," states Lopes, for whom statistics at the state level are bad and at the federal level are a calamity. Carlos Fischer concurs: "Our statistics are less than perfect, there are gaps and biases which led to the probable duplication of data pertaining to some species," he admits. He feels, however, that the available information is enough for the adoption of adequate management.

Partnering with producers

Ibama is moving to recoup the Brazilian fishing activity, basing on a study its experts completed earlier this year. "The idea which will permeate the implementation of sectoral Management Plans is the partnership with the production sector. We hope to be mature and responsible enough to incorporate the notion that only though management can we save fishing," states Fischer.

The head of Ibama’s Fishing and Aquiculture Department reminds that industry leader countries incorporated the environmental dimension as a guarantee for the sustainability of resources and for the profitability of the business. ‘There is no way of employing Sudepe’s old policy of development at any cost, when a much greater number of boats were licensed than the security limit for each species would permit," he commented.

Fischer lists several initiatives adopted by Ibama to restructure the fishing industry, in parallel with the development of specific actions such as the survey of living resources from the Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE), the review of fishing legislation, support to subsistence fishing, seeking activities complementary to extractive fishing and the integration of the fisherman to the environment; restructuring fishing industry’s statistics; the execution of the National Coast Management Plan; encouragement to aquiculture; restructuring research centers and the preparation of orientation, control and enforcement manuals.

None of this, in his understanding, will yield results without the participation of society in this effort. "Society has to strive towards leveraging this process and do its part, developing the awareness for issues such as fishing," prescribes Carlos Fischer.