Rita de Cássia da Silva learned to fish at age seven from her grandmother on the paradisiacal Macau Beach, Rio Grande do Norte state. Learning the trade of the elders involves not only the transmission of ancestral knowledge but also fulfills a “necessity.” “We were very poor. She couldn’t leave me alone,” Silva explains.
Although the sea enchants her and represents knowledge passed down through generations, there is no reason to romanticize the activity. In fact, it was hunger that drove Silva ‘s husband to the sea on a full moon night in 1993 to try to support their family. He didn’t know the area belonged to entrepreneurs who operated shrimp ponds. “My husband was shot by the company’s watchman and later died,” she said. He had no intention of stealing from anyone, but the blood and pain in the waters showed the family that the sea was not theirs, as they had once dreamed.
Artisanal fishers understand the need for better conditions, rights guarantees, and public policies to make their livelihoods less challenging. Last week in Brasília, approximately 800 fishers from 18 states gathered at the Grito da Pesca Artesanal (Artisanal Fishing Cry) event to call for greater attention to their sector.
The event aimed to address rights violations, the regularization of traditional communities, and the impacts of climate change on fishing communities in discussions with government bodies and other entities. For Rita de Cássia da Silva, now 45, life unfolds in a 6-meter motor canoe, where she observes new challenges emerging. “The change in climate is evident. It’s much warmer now, and there are far fewer anchovies, mullets, and xaréus [fish once abundant in the region],” she says.
While droughts affect fishing off the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, floods have severely impacted fishers on Ilha dos Marinheiros in Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul state. Viviane Machado Alves, 44, has worked in the Lagoa dos Patos Estuary—a lake region with over 4,800 fishers—since she was 20. She laments the loss of the island’s bridge to the estuary, destroyed by floods earlier this year, and criticizes the community’s struggles to access benefits, rebuild homes, and secure permits to fish in larger areas.
For those fishing in the São Francisco River in Minas Gerais state, like João Batista da Silva, 50, born and raised in the Caraíbas quilombola community in Pedras de Maria da Cruz, climate change and pollution in the river are discouraging the 40 families who depend on its waters. “We really miss certain types of fish like surubim, pacamão, and curimatã. It used to be very different,” he said.
“The river has never been the same,” says the worker, who raised nine children along its banks.
They fish to support their families and sell their catch in the city center, 12 kilometers away from the quilombola community. He emphasizes that their activities contribute to environmental protection, which has led to threats of violence. As a result, he is currently part of a government protection program.
This is a concern of the Pastoral of Fishermen and Fisherwomen, which aims to support communities in preserving and protecting these areas. According to Marcelo Apel, the organization’s Solidarity Economy secretary, the pastoral’s efforts seek to assist workers in reducing inequalities and addressing the historical lack of public policies.
The National Secretary for Artisanal Fisheries at the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Cristiano Ramalho, recognizes that there is a historical deficit of public policies aimed at assisting these fishing communities.
According to him, the Brazilian government has been supportive of workers’ demands for greater rights. “The requests from artisanal fishing communities, especially when it involves issues of conflict, are of utmost importance to these communities. Similarly, when it comes to issues of pollution and climate change, we engage with state bodies as part of the federal pact,” Ramalho stated.
He pointed out that last year, the government launched the Artisanal Fishing Peoples program, aimed at coordinating efforts across various ministries and fostering partnerships with different sectors of government, including health.
“It’s a direct action to support youth in artisanal fishing, with scholarships, strengthening the artisanal fishing production chain, and combating environmental racism. We’ve been doing this through direct budgets, including the construction of the first National Artisanal Fishing Plan,” he added.
Ramalho advocates for strengthening state policies for a category that needs support and is vulnerable.
According to the secretary, there are currently around 1.2 million people working in the sector, with 80 percent concentrated in the northeast and north of Brazil. The majority of these individuals are black.
Cristiano Ramalho stated that the government’s program aims to address one of the manifestations of Brazil’s historical inequality.