Overview on the fish farming in the Porto Grande municipality (Amapá, Brazil)

Abstract

This current study performed a prognosis on the overview of fish farming in the Porto Grande municipality (Amapa, Brazil), where there were analyzed the socio-economic aspects of the fish farms in the region. The sampling data occurred in the period from December 2015 to December 2016, with the use of semi-structured questionnaires joint to the owners of fish farming properties. The results show that the basis of the workforce on fish farming is mostly performed by men, by the use of family labor, and the pisciculture activities has existed for less than a half decade in the region. The fish farming is in small scale, and it is performed in semi-intensive and extensive production systems, with the predominance of excavated earthen ponds which are primarily used for fattening tambaqui (monoculture) for subsistence and commercialization ends. The fish produced (≈ 200 kg of fish per year, by fish farmer) is totally consumed in the municipality, but part of it is taken (stored in ice or in natura ) to urban centers where it is commercialized. The main obstacles found by the sector was the lack of training, technical service and high prices for fish feed acquisition. The fish farming profile in this study area is classified as small-scale and it resembles the ones found in other regions in Brazil, which shows that fish farming is still a little explored activity in the country.