Pesca, políticas públicas e pobreza: estratégias e perspectivas do pescador artesanal do litoral amazônico

Abstract

Marine fishing is an important activity that encompasses a huge number of people on the North Coast of Brazil. The state of Pará, which is part of this region, has numerous municipalities that find in fishing a source of work, income and food for their populations, among them Bragança and Augusto Corrêa, where several fishing communities and Marine Extractive Reserves Caeté-Taperaçu and Araí-Peroba, who dedicate themselves to this craft. This research works with the hypothesis that artisanal fishermen in the areas of the RESEX and their communities have a low income unable to contribute of maintaining their own well-being, since only through public policies can these fishermen have a sufficient income for their family expenses. In such a way that the objective of this study focuses on analyzing the limitations and opportunities of artisanal fishing as an economic activity for the reduction of poverty in the Marine Extractive Reserves Caeté-Taperaçu and Araí-Peroba, evaluating the role of government policies and considering both policies aimed at RESEX and other public social policies. For this, a bibliographical survey was carried out and meeting were organized with leaders who work with these fishermen, in addition to the analysis of a database consisting of 1,145 interviews provided by the Institute of Development and Technical Assistance of the Amazon, which carried out a project of Technique Assistance and Rural Extension for the development of artisanal fishing on the Bragantina Coast in 2015 and 2016. To analyze these groups, descriptive statistics were used in order to trace the social profile of the fisherman. Relationships between social, economic and environmental variables were also analyzed using a Spearman correlation. The data were submitted to the simple regression test, and the confidence interval was calculated to analyze differences in means. Fishing for fish and extracting uçá crab are the main fishing activities in these areas, including various forms of capture, with emphasis on gillnets, fixed traps and hooks. There are also multiple forms of commercialization of this fish, however the role of middlemen in the production chain is very strong, since they are considered, by many fishermen, a “solution” for the activity, considering that they provide the delivery of inputs for fishing, storage and distribution of the production and trade with other market channels, that is, they organizing this chain, thus covering an existing gap. The research showed that income from artisanal fishing is far below the real expectations of these fishermen. Thus, the financial support from government programs and aid is of enormous importance for the family income, complementing it, finally, the vulnerable of these families. Proving, even though, despite all this financial support made available by the State to compensate for the little income from the activity, fishermen are in a situation of poverty, which demonstrates the deficiencies or inefficiencies of existing public policies. As a result, the results of this work aim to guide and contribute to future studies, in order to improve or add new strategies and policies in order to propose a new design for artisanal fishermen and an improvement in the activity.