On September 30th and 31st, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and CSF presented the first results of the “Sustainable Fisheries in the Amazon Coast Project" to our partners in São Luís, Brazil. Sixty representatives from government, universities, the private sector, civil society, associations, cooperatives, fishermen groups, trade unions, and the implementing partners attended the meeting.

Fernanda Alvarenga introducing CSF´s work.

The goal of this project is to foster the sustainability of crab and shrimp value chains, and improve the quality of life for 30 communities located in 10 municipalities in the coastal areas of the Amapá, Maranhão and Pará states.

Jeronimo Amaral presenting the value chains´ mapping.

At the meeting, UNESCO presented the socio-cultural, economic and environmental characteristics of the communities in these three Brazilian states. Fernanda Alvarenga (CSF) presented preliminary results of the regional shrimp value chain mapping in the Amapá and Pará states and of the uçá crab in Pará state. Jeronimo Amaral (CSF) showed results of the piticaia and white shrimp studies in Maranhão state. Information about the value chain context, the main products and flows from the fisherman to the final consumer, basic statistical analysis about the production of these species, as well as the main bottlenecks and strengthening opportunities for each value chain were presented and discussed.

Project´s partners debating during the round tables.

The meeting concluded with three round table discussions, one for each state. Project partners brought their comments about the presentations and ideas for future steps, which allowed for a rich exchange of information and ideas.

Participants and organizers of the “Partners´ Meeting”.

The next steps of the project include presentations of the final results of the value chain mapping in the communities and/ or municipalities involved in the project, as well as publication of the final report.

Our study Mapping of the Value Chains of Artisanal Fisheries of the Brazilian Amazon Coast: current state and strengthening perspectives is conducted as part of the Sustainable Fisheries of the Brazilian Amazon Coast Project (PeSCA), - a partnership between the Vale Fund and UNESCO, in cooperation with the CSF-Brazil and the Mitsui Bossan Foundation of Brazil.

To watch a news broadcast about this event from Brazil TV (in Portuguese), click here.

Please click here for more information on this project.