Biotemas (Mar 2008)
Is there artisanal fishing territoriality in the Ubatumirim Bay (Ubatuba, SP)? Scale issues in community relations
Abstract
Scale issues are fundamental in the analysis of temporal and institutional dimensions of fishing territory. To understand actions and decisions at local and regional levels regarding fishing activity, we studied fishing communities at the Ubatumirim Bay, giving particular attention to the Almada community – north coast of the state of São Paulo. Data were collected between 2004 and 2005, a period in which artisanal fishers, officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations were interviewed. The results indicate the absence of territoriality at local level (within the community), but it exists implicitly at regional level (between communities). Both intercommunity relationships and fishing in areas outside the communities contributed to the building of a perception among fishers that “the sea belongs to everyone”. However, such perception that the sea is public does not imply the kind of free access that is unbound by rules. On the contrary, a large number of fishers believe that is important to have some mechanisms of control, and this must be agreed upon by officials and grassroots organizations within a horizontal institutional arrangement, i.e., all the stakeholders must have equal rights to vote and to make decisions.
