Avaliação da pesca artesanal da Vila de Japerica, São João de Pirabas, Pará

Abstract

The municipality of São João de Pirabas is one of the most prominent fishing hubs in the intermediate geographic region of Castanhal, with Vila de Japerica as the second largest district in the municipality, composed mostly of artisanal fishermen. The objective of this study was to describe the socioeconomic profile of fishermen and artisanal fishing in Vila de Japerica. Data collection was carried out between November 2024 and February 2025 through interviews with artisanal fishermen using the snowball method. The data were entered into spreadsheets and then analyzed using descriptive statistics and tables, charts, and graphs were created. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated for the variables of the fishing fleet. A total of 47 vessels were registered and classified into two categories, CAN and CAM, with motorized canoes being the most common fleet. The analysis revealed a variety of fishing gear, with gillnets and corral nets predominating in the region, presenting a diversity of local ichthyofauna, with emphasis on the species captured: hake (Macrodon ancylodon), catfish (Sciades herzbergii) and banded catfish (Bagre bagre). In the village of Japerica, there are four ports, but only 25% are made up of concrete infrastructure and have paved access roads. Fishing takes place in eight fishing grounds that are distributed along the Japerica River, with the Pinheiro fishing ground standing out as it covers most of the corrals in the village of Japerica. Regarding socioeconomics, 62 fishermen were interviewed, 91.94% of whom were male, over 25 years old, and who practice artisanal fishing as their main source of income, earning up to a minimum wage per month, regardless of the harvest period. The operational costs with the highest financial investment are the maintenance of the vessels, costing up to R$3,000.00, and the construction of the pens, costing up to R$10,000.00. Fishermen have an environmental perception that the abundance and size of the fish are decreasing over the years, mainly due to the size of the mesh of some fishing gear used in local artisanal fishing and the nets supported along the river. The fishing fleet has low fishing autonomy, so the fishing grounds are close to the community. The fishing gear has a variety of gear of different lengths, mesh sizes and wire diameters, inferring the diversity and selectivity of the fish caught.