Exploration at Foz do Amazonas could affect artisanal fishing – 7/2/2023 – Environment

Oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River could affect artisanal fishing in an area that is one of the most productive fishing regions in the country, which extends from northern Pará to Amapá.

According to artisanal fishermen who live in the village of Ajuruteua, part of the municipality of Bragança (PA), there is already a shortage of fish in the region. The problem is a reflection of the so-called predatory fishing and overfishing, when more animals are removed from the sea without the intention of consumption or to supply international markets, such as the American and Chinese.

If Petrobras obtains authorization to explore the oil wells in the sedimentary basin at the mouth of the Amazon, which comprises the equatorial margin, extending over an area of ​​more than 350,000 square kilometers, this fishing production could be even more affected.

“It’s been about ten, twenty years since we’ve seen any fish here in the region like we used to. For a few years now, there’s been very little [peixe]”, says fisherman Adiel Mescoto Miranda, 63.

He has been practicing the activity since he was eight years old, when he accompanied his father fishing in the region known as the Caeté river basin. The area of ​​the village where he was born and still lives today is part of the Marinha Caeté-Taperaçu Extractive Reserve (Resex), located between the municipalities of Bragança and Tracuateua.

As a reserve, the conservation unit has authorization for sustainable use, and is managed by ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), of the federal government.

In general, Resex have rules for the number of animals or plants that can be removed by users, thus avoiding a population imbalance that can lead to the local extinction of endemic species.

The marine reserves were created by means of a decree in May 2005, during the first government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

Residents of areas included in the Resex need to register with ICMBio in order to be authorized to carry out extractivism, be it vegetable or animal.

But as the area is only restricted to the marine territory —although it includes an extensive area of ​​mangroves, the largest coverage in the country and also threatened if exploration in Foz do Amazonas is allowed–, other fishing activities outside the area defined by the environmental agency continue without proper control and inspection of fishing activities.

“What we already realize is that the modernization of industrial fishing means that artisanal fishermen already suffer because they are unable to have the same equipment or the same competitiveness”, explains biologist Luiza Baruch Silva, who has done work in the coastal region paraense with artisanal fishermen.

In her research, she collected reports from residents of communities that already suffer from impacts in the region.

One of the main effects on the endemic fauna was the overfishing of sawfish (Pristis pristis), a type of shark that is virtually extinct locally. It is estimated that some populations of sawfish still exist on the coast of Amapá, but oil exploration can harm the life cycle of this animal, since it needs nurseries in the mangroves to reproduce, and then the adult moves on to the open sea.

The fishing activity in the region has as main targets the yellow hake (Cynoscion acoupa), white hake (macrodon ancylodon) and golden (Brachyplatystoma flavicans).

Species such as gurijuba (Sciades parkeri), the snapper (Lutjanus purpureus) and the mere (Epinephelus itajara) cannot be fished, but this veto is not respected by large vessels.

As a result, artisanal fishing is affected. “There are a lot of ships, large vessels that pass through the village, go to Belém or further north, carrying a lot of fish, passing more or less four or five miles from where we live and already causing a disturbance”, he explains. fisherman and carimbó master Lázaro Fernandes, 65.

According to him, who is also the community representative on the board of Resex Marinha Caeté-Taperaçu, thus participating in meetings with the environmental agency, if approved, oil exploration will bring even more disturbances than the village has already been suffering from predatory fishing.

Although it is 179 kilometers from the coast of Amapa, well 59, which Petrobras wants to explore, is less than 40 km from the Amazon reef, a diverse and unique ecosystem that brings together species that represent both Caribbean and Amazonian diversity.

Many of the species that feed on the reef reproduce close to estuaries on the coast of Amapá and Pará. An imbalance caused by reduced food supply and disturbance of the reef soil can affect these species and, consequently, break the reproductive cycle of these animals in estuaries, thus bringing consequences for the other species that live there.

In May, Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) denied a request made by Petrobras to drill the basin at the mouth of the Amazon River with the aim of exploring for oil in the region.

The report was supported by the Earth Journalism Network.