Social Protection in the health and humanitarian crisis of COVID-19 in the artisanal fishing territories at Resex Acaú-Goiana, Paraíba, Pernambuco - BRAZIL

Abstract

This article results from the research entitled “Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-territorial management of social protection in the Resex Acaú-Goiana, Paraíba, Pernambuco” (PIBIC/CNPq/UFPB, 2021-2022). The objective was to analyze the impacts of COVID-19 on socio-territorial management from the construction of the Ecosocial Ethnomapping and the study of plans to contain the health crisis in the Resex, together with the Associação das Marisqueiras de Acaú-PB and public agents. Fishing communities, in addition to the ecosystem services provided to nature and society, symbolize a historic and traditional life. The methodological procedures of the quantitative and qualitative type, of a descriptive, exploratory nature, comprised the realization of Guided Tours, free interviews and questionnaires to experienced fisherwomen, gathering information that contributed to the construction of a systematized diagnosis. The results show that most artisanal fisherwomen have social markers that corroborate with a historical lack of social protection experienced in their territories, which were aggravated by the socio-sanitary crisis of COVID-19. There is a racialization of artisanal fisherwomen, 88.90% declare themselves to be black, brown or brown, 55.60% are between 30 and 50 years old, and 55.60% have practiced artisanal fishing for more of 40 years. The study points out that artisanal fisherwoman enjoy restricted access to social policies that guarantee constitutional rights that consider their demands and specificities.