The impact of an oil spill on artisanal fishermen in Baía de Guanabara and possibilities for a sustainable future

Abstract: Brazil is a country with enormous social differences and, alongside the advancements of the industrialdevelopment and the creation of a modern society, a large part of the Brazilian population lives under fairly poor conditions, providing their subsistence by the practice of traditional knowledge; employing primitive tools and methods. One example is the sector of artisanal fishery, which at present accounts for about half of the active fishermen in Brazil (Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego, 2005). Even though these so called artisanal populations are not part of the industrialisation, they commonly suffer the consequences of the intense exploitation and unsustainable use of natural resources caused by the industrial development. The purpose of this report is to describe how the sustainability of the local artisanal fishermen population in Baía de Guanabara was affected by the oil spill at the Duque deCaxias refinery (REDUC) in January 2000. A further objective of the report is to answer how asustainable development of this population can be promoted in the future. In order to fulfil these objectives a field study was conducted in Baía de Guanabara, which included local fishermen fromfour different colonies and associations in the bay and key informants representing other stakeholders involved in the oil spill. In the report the impact of the accident on the artisanal fishermen population of Baía de Guanabara is described and several measures are discussed, which might be valuable inorder to promote a sustainable development of artisanal fishermen communities in the future.