Socioeconomic and environmental profile of artisanal fishing in Macaé, RJ

Abstract

Although it still has great social and economic importance, accounting for a large number of jobs in coastal communities, fishing has received few government incentives in Brazil,. In the city of Macaé, State of Rio de Janeiro, the situation is no different. Until the late 70s, fishing was considered the main socio-economic activity in the region. However, with the installation of the regional headquarters of Petrobras for oil exploration in 1978,, this scenario changed radically. Based on the hypothesis that the traditional means of use and ownership of fisheries resources in the region has been changed by the economic growth provided by the oil economy, the purpose of this work is to show socio-cultural and environmental importance of artisanal fishing for Macaé. We interviewed twenty-seven fishermen who landed in the warehouse of Macaé. Therefore, the semi-structured questionnaire was used along with bibliographic and documentary analysis. Participant observation as a methodological option was also carried out. Results provide information about the main fishing practices in the city, the environmental profile of fishermen, labor relations, and fish marketing. The profile of the artisanal fishermen of Macaé was established as follows: male; 30-40 years of age; most with uncompleted primary school; 89% are married; 56%  from Macaé; average of 27 years of work in fishing; gillnetting is the most common fishing practice; 82% commercialize production through intermediaries; average monthly income is R$900 deriving exclusively from fishing. Our conclusion is that the district is based on only one economic activity. The fishery supply chain gave way to the oil industry, and economic growth generated by this has not been used to consolidate a multi-pillar, stable, strong local economy. Therefore, it becomes necessary to create effective public policies and devices to maintain environmental quality and provide social improvements for the population, which depends, in turn, mainly on fishing.