Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Fish at Risk of Reproductive Collapse

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 17 2008 (IPS) - Thirty-two percent of the 142 species of marine fishes in southern Brazilian waters are at risk of reproductive collapse, says a new book. Along the entire Brazilian coast there are endangered fish species, but the problem is most serious in the south, according to the book, “Nas redes da pesca artesanal” (In the Nets of Artisanal Fishing), published by the United Nations Development Program and the Brazilian Environmental Institute.

The reason is excessive fishing, pollution, expansion of tourism, and the expropriation of land belonging to fisherfolk. “In the south the situation is worse because both industrial and artisanal fishing use nets,” Adriane Lobo, UNDP consultant and coordinator of the book, told Tierramérica.

The danger affects 29 percent of the 191 species of the southeast region, 13 percent of the 253 species of the northeast, and three percent of the 74 species of the north.