Evolution of a local Brazilian shrimp market

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of a coastal Lagoon ecosystem in Brazil, focusing on how the dynamics between the ecosystem and human systems have influenced the emergence and dynamics of the shrimp market. We focus on the Ibiraquera Lagoon on the southern Brazilian coast, tracing the history of the development of the Lagoon's seven bordering communities over the last five decades. We then describe the evolution of the area's shrimp market, describing its players and its demand, supply, and price characteristics. The story that emerges is of a transition from a small barter-based market to a patronage-dominated system to a wider, more complex, price-based system in which the traditional middlemen still exist but serve more as distributors than as patrons. The transitions were facilitated largely through the provision of roads and electricity to the Lagoon communities, which opened the area to tourism and greater business opportunities, and made shrimp storage and transport possible. Interaction between the Lagoon ecosystem and the social and economic systems is clearly an important factor in the dynamics of the shrimp market. Natural and manipulated Lagoon channel openings along with fishing activity influence the amount, size and marketability of the shrimp harvest. Additionally, pollution of the Lagoon's waters influences shrimp quality and thus price. New institutional arrangements will be needed to address unwanted developments and to ensure that the shrimp market continues to thrive while the Lagoon on which it depends is sustained.