“Grey” literature (e.g., NGO reports, case studies, non-detriment studies; project documents etc. (not necessarily peer-reviewed))
Harvest and trade of Pirarucu in the Brazilian Amazon: setting up of sustainable fishing quotas as a response to depletion of this freshwater resource.
Brazil has adopted a pioneering approach to pirarucu management based on supporting community rights to establish rules about access, to exclude other users from protected lakes, to monitor pirarucu populations, and to fish the species under government-ap
Ban of all exploitation of Pirarucu in the state of brazilian Amazonas in 1996, but enforcement ability was very low.
Population Trend
Increasing
Sub-national Level
Formal sub-national protection in place
Name
Emma Hemmerlé
Scientific Name
Arapaima gigas
Common Name(s)
Pirarucu
Type of Use
Extractive (i.e., the entire organism or parts of the organism are removed from its environment)
If extractive, for the target species, is this use
Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of
The whole entire organism
Details of parts/products taken
Pirarucu provides a variety of products, with the meat, the skin, the scales and the tongue all commercialized.
Over the last 20 years, Brazil has adopted a pioneering approach to pirarucu management based on supporting community rights to establish rules about access, to exclude other users from protected lakes, to monitor pirarucu populations, and to fish the species under government-approved quotas.
Local people (e.g., individuals, communities, co-operatives)
Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?
Yes
Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE
Yes – use is improving the status (e.g., population is increasing or stabilising, extraction effort OR catch per unit effort is decreasing or stable)
Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?
Unknown/not recorded
Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?
Yes, positive (use is helping combat poaching or illegal wildlife trade)
Community-based management of pirarucu, based on sustainable harvest and trade, is an outstanding conservation success story. Widespread and rapid recoveries of pirarucu have taken place in areas with community management in place
Further, the establishment of the community management programme has led to previously illegal fishers abandoning illegal practices and cooperating with the pirarucu management programme.
Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species
Yes, it is having a positive effect (e.g., reduced competition, reduced risk of hybridization)
Unknown/not recorded
Yes, considered sustainable
Additional Details (if available)
The conservation benefits of community-based pirarucu management go well beyond the species itself. Conserving this top predator has knock-on impacts for the health of river ecosystems generally, and has led to increases in biodiversity, including other species of fish that are also used by local communities.
Details of assessment carried out
evidence of Pirarucu population size increase in six different community-managed areas
Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded
Key livelihood benefits for rural communities from involvement in management and trade of pirarucu are food security and income. Food security has been improved through the widespread recovery of pirarucu stocks, and the opening up of avenues to legally harvest them. (Before establishment of community-based management, communities could not legally harvest pirarucu for food.)
Trade in pirarucu products generates critically needed income and provides the main means of the communities to meet their non-food needs, such as medicine and school expenses.
Pirarucu sales also generate emergency funds, which can be used to meet urgent emergency needs of travel and medical care at urban centers in the case of serious illness or accidents.
Trade in pirarucu products generates critically needed income and provides the main means of the communities to meet their non-food needs, such as medicine and school expenses.
Community-based management has also strengthened traditional knowledge and its passing on to younger generations. Management has also brought dignity to the members of the community, since it allowed them to legally trade the fish with authorization from IBAMA.
fishers’ specialized skills, acquired through years of experience in fishing, was key to establishing a monitoring methodology to enable monitoring of the resource and establishment of sustainable quotas.
Further important benefits from community- based management, as reported by fishers themselves, are the strengthening of cultural values and growing “pride” in the community
Has any assessment of socio-economic sustainability been recorded
No assessment recorded
Has the use of the species been recorded as resulting in changes to human health in this record?
Yes, recorded as positive
Has the species in use been noted as being of particular disease risk to humans?
Unknown/not recorded
Has the use of the species resulted in changes to animal welfare in this record?
Unknown/not recorded
Are there particular practices which have increased the risk to human or animal health or welfare in the use of this species?
Unknown/not recorded
Does the use of this species increase susceptibility to pathogen spread?
Unknown/not recorded
Trade in pirarucu products generates critically needed income and provides the main means of the communities to meet their non-food needs, such as medicine and school expenses.
Community-based management has also strengthened traditional knowledge and its passing on to younger generations. Management has also brought dignity to the members of the community, since it allowed them to legally trade the fish with authorization from IBAMA.
Unknown/not recorded
Strong community governance/institutions/rights for wildlife management
Present
Supportive policy and legislative framework
Present
Adequate capacity to implement and enforce governance arrangements
Absent
Good alignment of legal protections with local cultural values and traditional
Present
Support from NGOs
Absent
Support from Government
Present
High financial returns from use
Present
Abundant population of target species
Absent
Biological characteristics of target species
Present
Capacity building of community
Present
Establishment and implementation of species and/or area management plan
Present
Effective private sector approach engagement through certification
CITES (2019) CITES & Livelihoods Case Study 2019: Harvest and trade of pirarucu in the Brazilian Amazon.
By the 1980s, widespread declines and local extinctions were apparent. Overexploitation was primarily due to large-scale commercial, relatively unselective fishing boats, which often traveled far afield to exploit unprotected lakes.
How many people or households are involved in the use?
involved in the monitoring, setting of quotas, and harvesing of pirarucu.
Is there any gender/age specificity in the various roles
Yes
Women are involved in pirarucu management in terms of collecting and recording biological and biometric data, and handling fish for cleaning and cooling.
How many of these local jobs accure to the following categories?
How many people outside the local area are employed
Is there any evidence of other economic benefits associated with this use beyond direct income and jobs