ECOLOGY OF FISHING ON THE GRANDE RIVER (BRAZIL) - TECHNOLOGY AND TERRITORIAL RIGHTS

On the Grande River (Rio Grande, Brazil), fishermen from two communiti es use different fishing gear (cast nets, longlines, gillnets or fishi ng rods) in different seasons, marked by the river water level. This s tudy is an ecological analysis of fishing strategies at Grande River, downstream of a hydroelectric plant. Procedures included interviews an d systematic observations of fishing trips. Corimba (Prachilodus linea tus) is caught especially in the wet season (November-March), barbado (Pinirampus pirinampu) is caught in the transitional months between se asons (April and October) and a relatively high diversity of fish is c aught in the dry season (May-September). Cast nets are used especially in the wet season, longlines in the transition period, and gillnets a nd fishing rods in the dry season. In the wet season, P. lineatus is a bundant and fishermen concentrate on fishing, whereas in the dry seaso n some fishermen look for other jobs in construction, agriculture and local distilleries, and fishing is almost for subsistence. In the tran sition period, only fishermen who have rights on fishing grounds, used for longlines to catch P. pirinampu, continue to fish commercially. P redictability of fish migrations, fish abundance and market value of f ish species are factors determining gears used, territorial rights and shift of economic activities at Grande River.