Pescadores artesanais e a Reserva Extrativista Marinha de Arraial do Cabo/RJ - RESEXMar AC: trajetória e desafios frente a atividades turísticas

Abstract

In Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, artisanal fishermen face social and environmental challenges that can directly affect their lives and work. They live together with three major problems (1) the spoil left over by the Álcalis National Companythat operated from 1943 to 2006 and was extincted, leading to a huge impact on the municipality; (2) speculation on buying and selling land and housesfostered by tourism; and (3) a new socio-environmental context since 1997, when the Arraial do Cabo/RJ Marine Extractive Reserve (RESEXMar AC). At the same time when RESEXMar AC was implemented, new rules for fishing and maritime circulation were imposed. The local residents do also see the resurgence of tourism as an economic activity, which can be used by artisanal fishermen as an alternative or as a replacement to fishing. This research focused on fishermen in the district of Arraial do Cabo, aiming to describe and understand how they deal with such circumstances and elements, as well as with the new and diverse meanings of RESEXMar in these complex processes. I photographed the arena in which these activities take place, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, investigated the history of local fishermen work, interviewed fishermen who are local leaders, the manager of RESEXMar AC, and analyzed the related official documentation to these labor and environmental activities.I adopted an anthropological/ethnographic approach with qualitative methodological procedures.To analyze this universe, I took as reference the following analytical concepts/categories: conservation units; social identity; territory; traditional populations; socio-environmental conflicts; tourism; arena. The results presented and discussed in the Thesis were synthesized in chapters whose titles derive from the fishermen's words captured in my interviews: (1) "Fish roe fisherman", evidencing a deep sense of belonging and identity of the fishermen, (2) " Was the marine reserve not made for us, the fishermen?" with their reflections on RESEXMar AC; (3) “Does tourism get in the way?” talking about the coexistence of fishermen with tourist activities, before during the quarantine imposed by COVID-19; and (4) “It would not be for the fisherman to adapt to tourism. Tourism would have to suit the fisherman”, with the prospects for the future of coexistence in this arena.The results demonstrate that RESEXMar AC is taking on new meanings beyond those set by law, and that fishermen are opting for the opportunities that bring them more income. Understanding the case of RESEXMar AC, brings us to the different situations of so many Conservation Units in Brazil that are transformed into different compositions with the human presence, starting to call for specific solutions for their management