Agreement sets rules for fishing in the Castanho Lake and Paraná do Anamã, in Manacapuru

With the fishing agreement, the Government of Amazonas establishes rules for the management of the region's aquatic environments.

The State Secretariat of Environment (Sema) has set rules for fishing in the Castanho Lake e Paraná do Anamãin Manacapuru (distant 68 kilometers from Manaus). The agreement will benefit residents of six communities and fishermen from neighboring municipalities, also contributing to the conservation of fish stocks in the region's rivers.

With the fishing agreement, the Government of Amazonas establishes rules for the management of the region's aquatic environments. Among the rules are the prohibition of commercial fishing in the period between March 1st and 15th, fishing activities by iceboat, and commercial fishing is allowed for the communities that participate in the agreement at any time of the year. For subsistence fishing, the agreement determines that only zagaia, a kind of three-pointed steel rod used to catch fish, will be used.

The document, published on January 25th in the Official State GazetteThe agreement also defines the area where sport fishing activity is allowed, in addition to information about inspection, surveillance and monitoring, which will be done through a partnership between the environmental agencies and the communities that participate in the agreement.

According to the advisor of the Fishing Center of Sema, Rogério Bessa, the fishing agreement is an advance for conservation in the region. "With this, the State Government recognizes the right to use fishing resources for the traditional riverside populations of the interior of the municipality of Manacapuru, which will use this resource in a sustainable way. This also provides conditions so that the fishing stock in the region can be recovered in a gradual way", he said.

Planning for fishing

Sema is also finalizing the fishing agreements for the Mutuca (Autazes), Amapá (Manicoré) and Ilha da Paciência (Iranduba) rivers. The goal for 2019 is to define rules for fishing in six more locations.

To define the rules of each fishing agreement, Sema does outreach with residents of the conservation units and holds meetings to discuss the rules for the activity. For the creation of the fishing agreement of Castanho Lake and Paraná do Anamã, participated in the discussions representatives of Sema, Institute of Environmental Protection of Amazonas (Ipaam), Secretary of Rural Production of Amazonas (Sepror), the departments of Production, Fisheries and Environment of Manacapuru, colony, union and fishermen's association of Manacapuru, and residents of the communities Bom Jesus, Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro, São Pedro, Boa Esperança and Santa Isabel.

With information from assessorship