Vegetal fibers used in artisan fishing in the Salgado region, Pará

Abstract

Plant-derived fibers used in small-scale fisheries of the Salgado region of Pará state, Brazil. Fiber-providing plants occupy a distinctive place in the daily life of traditional Amazonian communities, next to medicinal plants, food plants, and timber species. In the Salgado region of Pará state, Brazil, on the Atlantic coast (municipalities of Colares, Curuçá, Magalhães Barata, Maracanã, Marapanim, Salinópolis, Santarém Novo, São Caetano de Odivelas, São João de Pirabas, and Vigia) plant-derived fibers are used in basketwork, ropes, construction reinforcements (in place of nails), body adornments, and clothing. For this survey, data were obtained from craft workers and fishermen in the Salgado region, in about 150 semi-structured interviews. In all, 17 plant species in eight botanical families and 17 genera are used in the preparation of fishing gear. Supports are made from the stems of Marantaceae and stipes of Arecaceae, woven elements are the aerial roots of Araceae and Cyclanthaceae and the stems of vine-like Bignoniaceae and Dilleniaceae, and roofing thatch is made from the leaves and midribs of Arecaceae. The most represented family in terms of number of species and uses was Arecaceae, with 8 species, followed by Dilleniaceae and Araceae, each with 2 species, and Bignoniaceae, Bombacaceae, Cyclanthaceae, Marantaceae, and Poaceae, each with a single utilized species. In addition, this paper provides information on these fiber-producing plants, in terms of their morphology, the origin and manipulation of plant materials by craftsmen, and the produced artifacts and their uses, as well as reporting cultural aspects of fibrous plant use in daily fishing activities in the Salgado region.

Keywords

• Plant fibers
• Ethnobotany
• Brazil
• Pará
• Fishing