A Carcinicultura do Nordeste Brasileiro e sua Inserção em Cadeias Globais de Produção: foco nos APLs do Ceará

The article makes an analysis of the way of insertion of the shrimp culture in the Northeast Brazil, in particular Local Productive Arrangements (LPA) of shrimp cultivation in the Ceará State, in global production chains and its governance structure because the cultivation systems of these cretaceous are concentrated in the Northeast, and, currently, Ceará is the largest producer of cultured shrimp from Brazil and presents along of its water parting there are two characteristic LPAs (east coast and west coast) that were strongly inserted in the international market through global production chains. The study was based on a survey of secondary data and interviews with the companies’ managers, owners and other LPAs’ agents. Main findings of the research show that the insertion of LPAs of companies still happens quite dependent on large international buyers, and the benefits generated, in large part, are appropriated out of the productive sphere, influencing the productive and innovative capabilities of local producers. The coordination structure is vertical, with some asymmetry degree in power relations between different segments of agents, being the main stages of the value chain controlled, in part, by external agents to arrangements.