Socio-economic profile and environmental perception of fishers of Lagoa do Apodi, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Abstract: Fishing is one of the main activities developed to ensure food, contributing to its development. However, currently has faced difficulties − especially the small-scale fishing, which uses low-technology −, in addition to the greed of large fishing corporations. The present work aims to describe the small-scale fishing in the Lagoa do Apodi, RN, through the description of the socio-economic profile and environmental perception of fishers. As a methodological procedure, we performed a literature review; preparation of semi-structured questionnaire, covering aspects of socio-economic profile and environmental perception, applied to 52 fishers, following the random sampling process; and processing of data with Microsoft Excel Software 2013. We observed that the fishers present low income and education; however, these factors did not influence on environmental perception of individuals. The positive impacts of fishing activity in the lagoon are related to income generation, job creation, and food production. We evidenced that the fishers are aware of the negative impacts arising from the activity, such as over-fishing, which leads to scarcity of fish and even to changing water quality. The main conflicts to fishers are relating to predatory fishing, land dispute between fishers and farmers, and with urbanization process with sewage dumping. With the results obtained, we detected an absence of public policies that may contribute to the promotion of small-scale fishing geared to local development.

摘要：渔业是保障粮食供应的核心生产活动之一，对粮食系统发展具有重要支撑作用。但当前渔业发展面临诸多困境，尤以技术水平有限的小型捕捞业为甚，外加大型捕捞企业的贪婪逐利进一步加剧了行业难题。本研究旨在通过对巴西北里奥格兰德州阿波迪潟湖（Lagoa do Apodi, RN）渔民的社会经济概况与环境感知进行描述，阐释该区域小型渔业的发展现状。研究方法包括：开展文献综述；设计涵盖社会经济特征与环境认知维度的半结构化问卷，通过随机抽样法对52名渔民开展问卷调查；采用微软Excel 2013软件完成数据处理。研究结果显示，受访渔民普遍存在收入偏低、受教育程度不高的问题，但上述因素并未对渔民的环境感知产生显著影响。渔业活动对该潟湖的积极影响主要体现为创造收入、提供就业岗位与保障食物生产。同时，渔民已清晰意识到该活动带来的负面影响，包括过度捕捞导致的鱼类资源匮乏乃至水质恶化。渔民面临的主要冲突包括掠夺性捕捞、渔民与养殖户间的土地纠纷，以及城市化进程伴随的污水排放问题。基于本次研究结果，本研究发现当前缺乏助力小型渔业服务于地方发展的公共政策支持。