Abstract
This paper examines the adoption of a technology to appropriate an ecologically constrained resource within the context of a restructuring fisheries sector utilising the conceptual lenses of adaptive learning and practice. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were undertaken in the coastal community of Ponta Negra, Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from May 2010 to March 2011. The materials collected were translated and transcribed into English and then manually coded. Through a restorying process the English transcripts were developed into an analytical narrative that described the process of the adoption of pound nets and how this initiated a process of social differentiation between fishing households. The pound net technology constituted a new field of practice that both created and constrained opportunities for livelihood diversification. In this case, individual adaptations made to diversify household economies initiated a cascading process of social differentiation within a coastal community.
Highlights
The cercos flutuantes are a type of stationary fishing gear related to the Japanese pound net
Over the course of the last century, this type of fishing technology has become the main fishery in small coastal communities along SE Brazil, especially in the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro States (Brito 2003; Diegues and Nogara 2005; Vianna 2008)
The case of Ponta Negra tells the story of a livelihood diversification process, marked by the adoption of the cercos, which is interwoven into a context of growth, modernisation and restructuring of a regional fishing economy. We examine this process through the everyday practice of fishers from the early stages of learning to utilise the technology, through its implementation in Ponta Negra, to the use of monetary surpluses gained by households with this technology to invest in other diversification strategies
Summary
The cercos flutuantes are a type of stationary fishing gear related to the Japanese pound net. Over the course of the last century, this type of fishing technology has become the main fishery in small coastal communities along SE Brazil, especially in the São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro States (Brito 2003; Diegues and Nogara 2005; Vianna 2008). The cercos are an important source of employment and fish resources for these small communities and have been the basis of the local economy for many decades. Some people in Ponta Negra have begun considering tourism as a means to diversify their livelihood portfolio. A limited ability to supply adequate infrastructure for domestic and international tourists, and to advertise products and services, creates structural limitations that hinder many Ponta Negra fishers from entering the tourism sector
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