TROUBLED AMAZONIAN FISHERIES OF ECUADOR

The Amazon ecosystems are known as a global hotspot of biodiversity (Rangel et al., 2018) but its importance also relies on the ecosystems services it provides. Amazonian rivers provide services through food security (fishing and water), water load and flow regulation, primary productivity, recreation and ecotourism (Furch & Junk, 1997; Latrubesse et al., 2017). In Ecuador, aquatic ecosystems harbor hundreds of fish species where a handful of species support human communities through artisanal fisheries. Exploited species are important for indigenous communities because fish are their main source of protein and fat (Berlin & Markell, 1977; Dufour, 1983; Durango Telio, 2013; Sirén, 2011).

However, aquatic ecosystems are under threat due to anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat loss, degradation, species overexploitation, climate change, and pollution, endangering commercialized species and the human communities that depend on them. In addition, several commercialized fish have been identified as sources of heavy metal pollution for human communities (Sirén, 2011; Webb et al., 2004). In contrast to other countries in the Amazon River basin, in Ecuador there are neither government fishing regulations nor a permanent monitoring of Amazonian fisheries. Thus, there is high informality in fishing activities (Burgos, 2019). There is no registry of artisanal fishermen, boats or fisheries’-landings, and there is no supervision about the products that are sold (Burgos, 2019). This also means that there is no control on the conservation status of economic important fish, and even less control whether there is heavy metal pollution in the fish that are sold.

In spite of these precedents, a preliminary study in Amazonian landing ports was carried out and found that 30-50% of all the captures do not fulfill standard size requirements, based on legislations from other countries in the Amazon basin with similar species (Burgos, 2019). This study and other ethnozoological efforts have also found that commonly commercialized species in the Amazon belong to at least 36 species, 13 families and from six orders: Siluriformes, Characiformes, Osteoglossiformes, Myliobatiformes, Cichliformes and Perciformes (Burgos, 2019; Durango Telio, 2013; Sirén, 2011). Critically, several commercialized species are classified as vulnerable and endangered by the National Red List of Freshwater Fish of Ecuador (Aguirre et al., 2019). Such is the case of large sized species like the gilded catfish (Zungaro zungaro), migratory catfishes (Pseudoplatystoma spp, Brachyplatystoma spp), paiche (Arapaima gigas), and the south American trout (Brycon spp). Overall, fish species experience severe pressure from artisanal fisheries, that coupled with habitat degradation, threatens fish biodiversity and the health and food security of indigenous communities.

In order to improve the urgent situation of Amazonian fisheries and to preserve food security of indigenous communities, management institutions should focus their efforts on (1) restoring degraded aquatic ecosystems, (2) filling gaps of knowledge of natural history, ecology and taxonomy of fish species and (3) stablishing a national system for control and monitoring of freshwater fisheries.

References:

Aguirre, W., Anaguano-Yancha, F., Burgos-Morán, R., Carrillo-Moreno, C., Guarderas, L., Jácome-Negrete, I., Jiménez-Prado, P., Laaz, E., Nugra, F., Revelo, W., Rivadeneira, J., Utreras, V., & Valdiviezo-Rivera., J. (2019). Lista Roja Nacional de peces de agua dulce de Ecuador. Dirección nacional de biodiversidad.

Berlin, E. A., & Markell, E. K. (1977). An assessment of the nutritional and health status of an aguaruna jivaro community, amazonas, Peru. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 6, 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/03670244.1977.9990483

Burgos, R. (2019). Diagnóstico de la situación actual de los Recursos Pesqueros Amazónicos del Ecuador. March. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2582594

Dufour, D. L. (1983). Nutrition in the northwest Amazon: Household Dietary Intake and Time-Energy Expenditure. In R. B. Hames & W. T. Vickers (Eds.), Adaptive responses of native amazonians (pp. 329–355). Academic pRESS.

Durango Telio, P. E. (2013). Evaluación socio-económico del uso de la pesca artesanal en cuatro comunidades Kichwa de la ribera del río Napo, Ecuador.

Furch, K., & Junk, W. J. (1997). Physicochemical Conditions in the Floodplains. In The Central Amazon Floodplain (pp. 69–108). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Latrubesse, E. M., Arima, E. Y., Dunne, T., Park, E., Baker, V. R., Horta, F. M., Wight, C., Wittmann, F., Zuanon, J., Baker, P. A., Ribas, C. C., Norgaard, R. B., Filizola, N., Ansar, A., Flyvbjerg, B., & Stevaux, J. C. (2017). Damming the rivers of the Amazon basin. Nature, 546(7658), 363–369. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22333

Sirén, A. (2011). El Consumo de pescado y fauna acuática silverstre en la Amazonía ecuatoriana.

Webb, J., Mainville, N., Mergler, D., Lucotte, M., Betancourt, O., Davidson, R., Cueva, E., & Quizhpe, E. (2004). Mercury in Fish-eating Communities of the Andean Amazon , Napo River Valley , Ecuador. EocHealth 1, 1, 59–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-004-0063-0

By: Daniel Escobar-Camacho 
Photo credit: José Montoya, Jessica Pacheco, Daniel Escobar-Camacho