MANAUS, Brazil, May 7, 2002 (ENS) - Representatives from over 30 communities across the Brazilian Amazon Region have gathered at the First Amazon Community Fishing Management Meeting being held in Manaus from this week. Delegates from four states are planning actions to prevent overfishing and to assure that fishing is sustainable in the rivers and freshwater lakes of Brazil's Amazon Flooded Forest.

Some local communities are so concerned about overfishing in the flooded forest that they have organized themselves and taken possession of local lakes to promote the controlled use of the fisheries, based on sustainable practices and supported by fishing agreements.

Fisherman in the Amazon Flooded Forest (Photo by Edward Parker courtesy WWF-Canon)

Experts and researchers, governmental and non-governmental organizations are here to address that fact that since the 1990s, both the quantity and the quality of fish in the Amazon Flooded Forest of Brazil has decreased.

They intend to establish rules and regulations to guide community fishing in the Amazon Region as a whole.

Eight percent of the world's freshwater fish catch comes from the Amazon, says one of the meeting's organizers, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The WWF cites figures showing that fishing activity is responsible for 70,000 direct jobs in the region, and the production is worth some US$100 million.

The conservation gathering is an initiative of WWF-Brazil together with Pró-Várzea, the Flooded Forest Natural Resources Management Project of the Brazilian environment agency IBAMA and Brazil's National Planning Policy Guidance program. The meeting enjoys the support of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM).

The experts at these organizations say that fish populations of some of the most traditional species - such as the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) and the enormous pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), which are enjoyed by local people and have high economic values on the market - are now threatened by overfishing.

The Amazon Lodge is a unique, small floating lodge about 80 kilometers from the city of Manaus, in a natural reserve. (Photo courtesy Amazon Lodge)

Delegates to the meeting are discussing community management and autonomy, the decision making process, relationships with support institutions, fishing management funding, gender issues, legal instruments for fishing planning, ownership situation of local lakes, fisheries, conflict resolution, patrolling and monitoring, trade, markets and adding value.