Pesca artesanal na Baía de Ilha Grande, RJ: conflitos e novas possibilidades de gestão compartilhada

Abstract

This thesis analyses environmental conflicts involving artisanal fishermen in the Ilha Grande Bay and institutional initiatives aiming at managing such conflicts in shared manners. Two initiatives were considered: i) the project Development of Management Systems of Fisheries and Aquaculture in Ilha Grande Bay GPESCA-BIG ; and ii) The Commiment Term between the Tamoios Ecological Station and fishermen communities of Angra dos Reis and Paraty. The methodology comprised the author s direct observation in meetings of the consultation councils and working groups in conservation units, in special, those involving the Tamoios Ecological Station, and also participation in presentations about the proposition of Fishing Agreements and other public hearings. The research also used participative observation in meetings and workshops within the GPESCA-BIG project. Additionally, formal and informal interviews were carried on with relevant actors, and varied documents by entities such as Fishermen Associations, City Governments and City Councils, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Ministry of Environment were consulted. Three major groups of fisheries-related conflicts were identified: (1) overlapping between fishing and protected areas; (2) conflicts associated with large-scale fishing and, to a smaller degree, with oil and gas ships and touristic boats; and (3) conflicts due to the lack of regularization/allowance of the activity. In sum, these conflicts involve both development and conservation policies, which at all times contradict the traditional lifestyle of artisanal fishermen and caiçaras. Besides resulting from different forms of use of the sea, these conflicts are also related to the paradoxical role of the State in setting rules (including supervision and environmental monitoring) to the bureaucracy and to several institutions dedicated to common problems. Regarding the initiatives under analysis, results show that there are relatively well established institutions in the region, comprising public environmental agencies at local, state and national levels. One can also mention the participation of civil society, in special, artisanal fishermen from Paraty and their associations. On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the lack of integration among such policies and agencies/actors, as well as among institutional experiences under way. Therefore, one of the major challenges in the implementation of a strategy of co-management of fishing resources in the Ilha Grande Bay consists in overcoming such institutional shortcomings and adopting articulated initiatives aimed not only at the conservation of the environment, but also the sustainability of traditional fisheries and their co-existence with other kinds of use of the marine resources