The Dilemmas of the System of Common Ownership of Fishing Lakes in Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

"This paper examines the local fishing resources management initiatives, known as 'fishing deals', and the obstacles faced by fishermen belonging to rural communities in Brazilian Amazon. The research was developed among communities from the municipality of Manacapuru, in the state of Amazonas. The field research has produced evidence of the organizational potential, the communicative skill, the social capital and the political culture of fishermen groups that, when threatened by the decrease of some of the fish stock, got organized to control the use and the appropriators of fishing resources in aquatic environments close to their area of residence. Nonetheless, the maintenance of such mechanism is threatened by other groups, interested in the commercial exploitation of the communal territories, since they still lack the State endorsement. According to Brazilian law, the fishing resources are state property and the State alone can legislate on their protection. However, the recent scenery displays the inefficiency of governmental organs in the surveillance and containment of the over exploitation of fishing resources. This has led the people inhabiting the rural areas of the Amazon, such as the groups of fishermen covered by the present study, to develop autonomous forms of management to avoid the scarcity of fish. As a result, a process of decentralization of fishing resources has been in course in Brazil since 2002. By means of complementary directives to the current fishing legislation, the State has created criteria to guide the discussion of the 'fishing deals', enabling their legalization. Nevertheless, the deals established by the subjects covered by this study remain yet to be legalized, leading to the obstruction and impairment of local management systems and giving rise to several social conflicts - since the other appropriators don’t abide to the local rules for the appropriation of fishing resources."