The creation of the Amateur and Sports Fishing Committee, through the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA), was published this week in the Official Gazette (DOU). Among the competences of the agency, listed in Ordinance MPa No. 478, last Monday (15), are the promotion of initiatives for sustainable development of the sector and the expansion of practice with social inclusion and respect for traditional peoples and territories.
The Committee is within the National Council of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Conape), which formulates public policies for sector management in partnership with society. According to the Brazilian Confederation of Sport Fishing (CBPE), with data from the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), the segment generates 200 thousand direct and indirect jobs and moves more than R $ 1 billion per year in Brazil.
“This decision [criação do Comitê] It arose from the need to organize and strengthen a sector with great potential, still little explored in Brazil, but it can generate jobs, income and new economic opportunities, ”explained Adriana Toledo, Conape Executive Secretary, to Brazil agency.
“The emergence of the committee brings greater governance and stability for this segment, contributing directly to the formulation of public policies, guidelines and specific strategies, as well as facilitating dialogue between governments and civil society. Conape, in turn, will have a coordination and advice role, ensuring that committee decisions are incorporated into national fishing actions and policies,” he added.
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CBPE Executive Secretary Régis Portari is the one who chairs the committee. According to him, approximately seven million Brazilians declare themselves fishermen who practice competition and leisure fishing.
“[A pesca] It is one of the most practiced sports in the country. We have over a thousand regionally distributed championships, that is, there are more than three championships per day happening simultaneously in the country. Is a very developed sector, large and with the possibility of growth, ”Portari told Brazil agency.
“The function of the committee is also to assist, such as Conape, the ministry in actions of the segment. The idea is to make this sport more consolidated, have more power, more condition of organization, bring better events to the country and make income distribution as a prospecting tool and increased practitioners,” he added.
More representativeness
The first board meeting is scheduled for next week in Brasilia. MPA Ordinance No. 352, also published in the DOU of the 15th, shows that the agency has members of four ministries (fishing and aquaculture, sports, tourism and environment and climate change), environmental and fishing and Conape, which has a holder and director of promotion of equality of CBPE, Hellen Pontieri, as alternate.
“Having a specific space to discuss the demands, challenges and opportunities of sport fishing is essential to ensure that the activity is valued, respected and developed in a sustainable way,” Hellen told Brazil agency.
“He [Comitê] It can contribute to the construction of fairer public policies, the strengthening of the representativeness of sport fishing in the decision spaces and the promotion of actions aimed at conservation of natural resources, something fundamental for the continuity of the activity ”, amended the director of CBPE.
According to Hellen, his performance in the confederation aims to make fishing an inclusive and inviting environment for women, who are still a minority, despite the increase in participation. The director of CBPE highlighted the event “Anzol Rosa”, presented as the largest female meeting in Latin America in the segment, with over 600 fishermen in 20 boats hotels in Corumbá (MS) in Pantanal, in November last year. In the previous edition, in 2022, there were 502 participants gathered in 15 hotels boats.
“The female presence in sports fishing is a growing reality, but it is necessary that the structures also evolve to accompany this advance. Promoting equality is a matter of justice, but also of strengthening the segment itself: diversity generates innovation, engagement and development,” concluded the Goiana, native of Anápolis.
Sport fishing scenario
Amateur and sports fishing is defined by Law 11,959, of June 29, 2009, as a non -commercial activity, in which the captured fish is not a source of income or subsistence and is returned to its natural habitat – the so -called “fishing and loose”. In May, at the launch of the National Plan for Sustainable Amateur and Sports Fishing Development (PNPA), the Minister of Regional Integration and Development, Waldez Góes, revealed that, last year, more than 330 thousand new records of sports fishermen were issued.
By August this year, according to the MPA amateur and sports panel, more than 263,000 licenses have already been issued. The states of São Paulo (57.5 thousand) and Minas Gerais (50.1 thousand) lead the statistics. The month of March – usually when Piracema ends, a reproduction period of fish in which fishing is prohibited – was the one that had the most records (55,421).
“The public is diverse, with direct and indirect economic impacts regarding amateur and sports fishing, such as guides, instructors, fishing and paying, manufacturers and traders of equipment and tourism professionals linked to fishing,” said Adriana Toledo, from Conape.
Brazil has 8.5 thousand kilometers (km) of coastal and 35 thousand km of internal navigable roads. The waters of the North and Midwest – due to the Amazon and the Pantanal – are the most sought after by fishermen. In the Amazon alone, according to the State Tourism Company (Amazonastur), the market moves nearly $ 200 million per season of fishing, being one of the main local tourist attractions.
Difference between Fisheries
Civil engineer Zenizir Rodrigues is from Rio de Janeiro. It started fishing at the Flamengo landfill, south of Rio, with bamboo stick. In testimony to Brazil agencyHe said it was just after moving to work to Manaus that sports activity aroused interest.
“Sport fishing was one of those responsible for me having remained in Manaus. The firm left and I continued. I really like the sport fishing technique. I am a scholar and I try to understand all modalities such as throwing, artificial bait, leather fish [sem escamas]fly [também conhecida como pesca com mosca]”, he said.
On the MPA website there is a booklet that indicates what is allowed and prohibited in the practice of amateur and sports fishing in the country. Items such as hand line, simple reed, rod with reel or reel, use of natural or artificial bait, for example, are among those released. On the other hand, the marketing of the captured fish and the use of ornamental aquatic species such as baits, among others, are prohibited.
“[A diferença da pesca amadora e profissional] It begins in choosing the gadgets, the baits. There is a whole technique linked to sport fishing that enables fish to be captured and then returned under survival conditions in the water. We value sport fishing to remain a sport that maintains nature as intact as possible, ”described Régis Portari, chairman of the committee.
“What needs to be amateur [na pesca esportiva] It is the fisherman. Sport fishing has to be professional. And how do we do that? Regulating rivers, species, while thinking about the fisherman who lives on commercial fishing. This is his economic activity, with which he puts food on the table. I believe the committee can address this issue, ”concluded Rodrigues.
