A indústria de bacalhau da Amazônia: efeitos econômicos e sociais da unidade de beneficiamento de pescado salgado seco de Maraã, Amazonas.

Abstract

In 2007, three years after Maraã fishermen held responsibility for half of the arapaima (Arapaima gigas) caught and handled in Mamirauá and Amanã sustaintable development reserves (RDS), the State Secretariat of Rural Producyion of Amazonas (SEPROR) proposed the creation of the Processing Unit for Dry Salted Fish of Maraã – AM (UBP-M). The inauguration of the Industry was in October 2011 producing dried salted arapaima fillet - bringing a new process to the region - the product was launched in the regional and national market under the trade name of "Amazon Cod." This study sought to assess the social and economic effects of UBP-M on employment and income of the workers involved. Before the inauguration, between March and May 2011, 304 residents of Maraã were interviewed with the aid of semi-structured forms, over current occupation of jobs in the city and the social and economic conditions of urban fishermen. The operation of the unit was monitored during the first eight months (October 2011 to May 2012), when 2644 fish with dry salting were processed by local workers, increasing the number of jobs for a minimum of nine workers and a maximum of 91 jobs per month in the local processing industry. The number of workers involved varied with the seasonal arapaima fisheries managed. The average earnings of UBP-M workers were higher than that received by the workers of 122 local private sector establishment sites. Despite the transience of impacts on the manufacturing sector, where the number of jobs has increased and then has decreased, the effects were positive. The processing of a single species managed under restricted periods coinciding in several areas, combined processing capacity of UBP-M - up to five tons / day - questions the economic viability of the industry.