A utilização do forjo na captura do caranguejo uçá (Ucides cordatus) na comunidade de Tapebas em Fortaleza – CE

Silva

et al. 2012

BackgroundBlue Land Crab (Cardisoma guanhumi) is one of the most important crustacean species captured and commercialized in Brazil. Although this species is not considered to be threatened with extinction, populations of C. guanhumi are known to be rapidly diminishing due to heavy harvesting pressures and degradation of their natural habitats, highlighting the necessity of developing and implanting management and protection strategies for their populations. There have been no ethnozoological publications that have focused specifically on C. guanhumi, in spite of importance of this type of information for developing efficient management plans of resource utilization. So, the present work describes the ethnoecological aspects of the capture and commercialization of C. guanhumi by a fishing community in northeastern Brazil.MethodsField work was carried out in the municipality of Mucuri, Bahia in Brazil, between the months of January and March/2011 through the use of open semi-structured interviews with all of the crustacean harvesters in city who acknowledged their work in capturing this species, totaling 12 interviewees. The informants were identified through the use of the "snowball" sampling technique. In addition to the interviews themselves, the "guided tour" technique and direct observations was employed.ResultsAccording all the interviewees, the C. guanhumi is popularly called "guaiamum" and is collected in "apicum" zones. They recognize sexual dimorphism in the species based on three morphological characteristics and the harvesters also pointed two stages in the reproductive cycle during the year and another phase mentioned by the interviewees was ecdysis. All of the interviewed affirmed that the size and the quantities C. guanhumi stocks in Mucuri have been diminishing. All of the interviewees agreed that the species and other mangrove resources constituted their principal source of income. The harvesters dedicated three to five days a week to collect Blue Land Crabs and the principal technique utilized for capturing is a trap called a "ratoeira" (rat-trap).ConclusionsThe results of the present work demonstrated that the community retains a vast and important volume of knowledge about C. guanhumi that could subsidize both scientific studies and the elaboration of viable management and conservation strategies for this species.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capture and commercialization of blue land crabs ("guaiamum") Cardisoma guanhumi (Lattreille, 1825) along the coast of Bahia State, Brazil: an ethnoecological approach

Silva

et al. 2012

“…These short strings are 1.5 m long and typically purchased in a local shop for U.S.$ 3.76 per hundred. In other regions of Brazil such as Iguape, the string is called a “wire” (“fieira”) and consists of a group of 12 crabs; in Fortaleza, Ceará, the string is formed of 10 individuals [66]; in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, the string can contain 7–12 animals [67]; and in Paraíba, the string contains 12 individuals [22]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habits and customs of crab catchers in southern Bahia, Brazil

Tenório

et al. 2017

BackgroundBrazilian mangrove forests are widely distributed along the coast and exploited by groups of people with customs and habits as diverse as the biology of the mangrove ecosystems. This study identifies different methods of extracting crabs that inhabit the mangrove belts; some of these activities, such as catching individual crabs by hand, are aimed at maintaining natural stocks of this species in Mucuri (south Bahia), Brazil.MethodsIn the studied community, illegal hunting activities that violate Brazilian legislation limiting the use of tangle-netting in mangrove ecosystem were observed.ResultsAccording to our observations, fishermen, to catch individual crabs, use the tangle-netting technique seeking to increase income and are from families that have no tradition of extraction.ConclusionsThis analysis leads us to conclude that catchers from economically marginalised social groups enter mangroves for purposes of survival rather than for purposes of subsistence, because the catching by tangle-netting is a predatory technique. Tangle-netting technique increase caught but also increases their mortality rate. We emphasise that traditional catching methods are unique to Brazil and that manual capturing of crab should be preserved through public policies aimed at maintaining the crab population.

“…Additional ethnoecology and ethnobiology studies of Ucides cordatus are needed, for the folk knowledge retained by traditional communities concerning the natural resources they come into contact with on a daily basis can benefit efforts to conserve and preserve regional biodiversity [ 7 , 11 , 21 , 24 , 25 , 33 - 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of environmental changes and Lethargic crab disease among crab harvesters in a Brazilian coastal community

Có³

et al. 2011

BackgroundLethargic Crab Disease (LCD) has caused significant mortalities in the population of Ucides cordatus crabs in the Mucuri estuary in Bahia State, Brazil, and has brought social and economic problems to many crab-harvesting communities that depend on this natural resource. The present work examined the perceptions of members of a Brazilian crab harvesting community concerning environmental changes and the Lethargic Crab Disease.MethodsField work was undertaken during the period between January and April/2009, with weekly or biweekly field excursions during which open and semi-structured interviews were held with local residents in the municipality of Mucuri, Bahia State, Brazil. A total of 23 individuals were interviewed, all of whom had at least 20 years of crab-collecting experience in the study region. Key-informants (more experienced crab harvesters) were selected among the interviewees using the "native specialist" criterion.ResultsAccording to the collectors, LCD reached the Mucuri mangroves between 2004 and 2005, decimating almost all crab population in the area, and in 2007, 2008 and 2009 high mortalities of U. cordatus were again observed as a result of recurrences of this disease in the region. In addition to LCD, crabs were also suffering great stock reductions due to habitat degradation caused by deforestation, landfills, sewage effluents, domestic and industrial wastes and the introduction of exotic fish in the Mucuri River estuary. The harvesting community was found to have significant ecological knowledge about the functioning of mangrove swamp ecology, the biology of crabs, and the mass mortality that directly affected the economy of this community, and this information was largely in accordance with scientific knowledge.ConclusionsThe study of traditional knowledge makes it possible to better understand human interactions with the environment and aids in the elaboration of appropriate strategies for natural resource conservation.