Woods Hole Research Center

Along the tributaries of the Amazon River, there are thousands of riverine communities conducting artisanal, small-scale fishing activities. These fishing activities have been poorly studied and managed even though they are responsible for most (~60%) of the total fish catch in the Amazon. These fisheries usually involve riverine families who go fishing almost every day primarily for subsistence but also for commercial purposes, thus providing them with their main source of animal protein and income. Fishing trips usually last a few hours and consist of one or two people using a wooden canoe operated by a small outboard engine (< 10 horsepower) or paddles.

At left, photo of fishing canoe.

Fish market.

We assessed the sustainability of fishery resources in small-scale fisheries in the Lower Amazon region. Our study focused on the river floodplains near the city of Santarém; (Figure 1) where population growth is rapidly increasing pressure on fish resources and where fishing communities have been developing one of the Amazon’s most advanced systems for fisheries management. We analyzed over 20,000 household interviews of fishing activity collected between 1992 and 2007 in three typical fishing communities.

Figure 1 - This map highlights the varzea, or floodplain, of the Amazon River. The white dot near center of image is the town of Santarém, which located about 400 miles upstream from the mouth of the river.

Levels of fishing pressure in the region appeared to be moderate, with observed catches below the predicted maximum limits. However, fishing in the region is highly selective of a few key (usually large, commercially-valuable) species. Even though roughly forty fish species are regularly fished, nine species contribute more than half of the total catch in weight. Five of those nine species have been reported to be overfished and even depleted in other regions of the Amazon, and in the study area they also appear to be overexploited. This is probably because of the high concentration of fishing combined with unsustainable fishing practices, such as the catch of juvenile fish.

Acari fish.

Our studies also show that riverine communities that implement gear and size restrictions tend to have more economically valuable species with larger body sizes, something that contributes to resource conservation. These research findings are now guiding management efforts in the field through our collaborative work with local fishing communities. Results from this study can be found here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783611001913

Fisherman throwing a castnet from the bow of a typical fishing canoe in a floodplain lake in the Amazon River (December 2009).