Profits and social performance of small-scale fishing in the Upper Paraná River floodplain (Brazil)

Abstract

Small scale fishing profits in two communities in the Upper Paraná River floodplain (Porto Rico - PRI and Porto São José - PSJ villages) are assessed based on interviews carried out with professional fishermen. There is a high illiteracy level in both PRI (50%) and PSJ (44.5%). The main contributions to income are "vessel costs" and "fish consumption" by the family. Specific tackle (such as cevadeira) and gear used for fishing close to dams make the gear costs higher at PSJ, emphasising the heterogeneity of the activity. The majority of fishermen in both villages have income complementation activities associated with tourism, because floodplain fishing is not a profitable occupation with any poverty alleviation capacity. Since the ecosystem is seriously disrupted, nowadays fishers are vulnerable to high oscillations in costs and income due to uncertainty in catches aggravated by flood control of the dams.