Fishery production system of acoupa weakfish - Cynoscion acoupa Lací­¨pede (1802): a case study on the northeast state of Pará - Brazil

Abstract

The acoupa weakfish, Cynoscion acoupa, is one of the main target species along the northern coast of Brazil. It represents 19% of the catch landed in the state of Pará. This study aimed to describe the fishery system that targets the acoupa weakfish, characterizing the social, technological, economic and ecological dimensions giving support for future management plans. The case study method, that uses a multidisciplinar approach with different data types (qualitative and/or quantitative) describing the processes of a system, was carried out in the city of Bragança (Pará). No differences were found between cities, given the social and ecological dimensions where attributes such as education level, social organization, fishing grounds positioning, harvest season and by-catch were found homogeneous. Technological attributes such as fishing boat and gear were different in the cities of Bragança and Vigia, as well as for the economic attributes, catch landed, per capita income and gear cost. The study case in Bragança showed that, although the high-priced isinglass was an important component in the acoupa weakfish commercialization chain, the selling of the fish meat appeared to be the main source of net profits. For the coastal area of the state of Pará, these results suggest a common development plan regarding socio-environmental aspects, but call for differences between cities considering their technological and economic components.