A pesca comercial no município de Manicoré (rio Madeira), Amazonas, Brasil

Abstract

Despite of the evolution of fisheries science the gap in key information about fisheries dynamics that occurs in some regions of Amazonas State, including the Madeira River basin, make the management of activity unsuitable. In this sense, this work presents a characterization of the fisheries fleet of Manicoré town, located in the Medium Madeira River. Information was collected from 13 boats and 42 motorized canoes, between May of 2003 and June of 2004, through questionnaires given to boat owners or skippers of fishing expeditions and fishermen using motorized canoes. Information was registered about boat dimensions, storage capacity, fishing grounds, and exploited species, among others. Medium sized fishing boats are 12.4 m, storage capacity of 6.1 tons and 5.5 fisherman and three fishing expeditions per month, with eight fishing gears exploiting rivers in the drought and flood season. Motorized canoes have a mean size of 6.8 m, storage capacity of 0.2 ton and 2.0 fisherman and 5.5 fishing expeditions by month, with 11 fishing gear exploiting the Madeira River in the drought season and lakes in the flood season. In boats, the purse seine is the gear responsible for 70% of the investment cost. Motorized canoes have a bigger investment in gillnets and driftnets. Fuel is the most expensive item for fishing expeditions by boats and motorized canoes. The crew are the principal financer of expedition costs.