| Author(s): |
Priscila Fabiana Macedo Lopes
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. , ilustrações. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia |
| Defense date: | 2008-09-04 |
| Examining board members: |
Alpina Begossi;
Cristiana Simão Seixas;
Mohamed Ezz El Din Mostafa Habib;
Renato A. M Silvano;
Walter Barrella
|
| Advisor: | Alpina Begossi |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Ecology |
| Indexed in: | Base Acervus-UNICAMP; Biblioteca Digital da UNICAMP |
| Location: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Biblioteca Central Cesar Lattes; T/UNICAMP; L881m; Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Biblioteca do Instituto de Biologia; T/UNICAMP; L881m |
| Abstract | |
This study focus on the dynamics of the commercial, but still artisanal fisheries in Perequê Beach, Guarujá, SP, under the perspective of human behavioral ecology and decision-making processes analyses by local fishermen. Its main goal was to evaluate the conditions of the local fisheries, comparing it to other artisanal fisheries in Brazil, taking into account social-economic, ecological and behavioral factors, in order to provide basic but essential information to local fisheries management. The results of 14 months of fieldwork are integrated throughout three chapters using concepts from evolutionary ecology, such as optimization and territoriality, and concepts from the Commons Theory, such as property regimes. The methods used include semi-structured interviews applied to the social-economic characterization, fish landings samplings (n=424), participant observations in some fishing trips (n=21) and fishing spots mapping (georeferenced spots) and ethnomapping (identified by the local fishermen). The first chapter brings up a socialeconomic portrait of the community, showing the similarities and differences between the two fishing systems: shrimp trawl and gillnet fishery. Few targeted shrimp (n=2) and fish (n=5) species were identified. The kinds of equipment used (bottom otter trawl and gillnet), the importance of fishermen migration from other Brazilian states to the place, especially from the south region, and the economic and family based interrelations that lead the local life (economy based on fishing and commerce of shrimp) were also studied. The second chapter addresses the local fisheries and fishermen¿s decision-making processes. Fishing effort is analyzed under a temporal perspective, investigating the influence of seasonal factors (e.g.: wind) in decisions that rule, for example, the simple daily act of going fishing or not. In addition to that, Perequê represents an open access area, where neither local rules nor government enforces the existing laws or curtails the resource exploitation, which makes the decision making processes be solely at the individual level and not at the community level. Despite that, some conflicts due to the overlap of fishing areas between trawlers and gillnetters can be observed. The last chapter bringsup an analysis based on Optimal Foraging Theory, testing if a fisherman tries to maximize (optimization process) his caloric and financial returns. Pieces of evidence concerning fish overexploitation were found, as the fisherman needs to go further to fish species that are usually caught close to the coast. Moreover, the fact that both fishing groups aims at maximizing their financial and caloric return suggests a kind of behavior that is directed towards the short term return, a strategy clearly non-conservationist. The main points showed by this study concerning Perequês fishing (fishermenns migration, conflicts over the rights to use the fishing spots, non regulated exploitation, intense dependence on a few fishing resources, etc.) ground and show the need of adopting immediate management measures, aiming at restricting and decreasing the environmental and social impacts caused by an eventual resource crises. Among them, it is suggested the fleet control, the effective enforcement of existing regulations, the development of local agreements that aim to decrease conflicts and to make resource exploitation more sustainable, and mainly the restructuring of formal and informal institutions, which would make the application of such measures easier (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 04/07073-4 - Risk and uncertainty: the use of ecological models in artisanal fishing |
| Grantee: | Priscila Fabiana Macedo Lopes |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |