A percepção dos pescadores e pescadoras artesanais sobre os serviços ecossistêmicos aquáticos do bairro Coroa do Meio em Aracaju/SE

Abstract

The involvement of the perception of fishermen and artisanal fisherwomen in the process of planning, management and conservation of their territories together with the different subjects and agents of society is one of the goals of SDG14 of the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, this study had as general objective to understand the interrelationships between the fisherman and the artisanal fisherwoman of the Coroa do Meio neighborhood in Aracaju/SE and the urban aquatic ecosystems. Phenomenology was used as a method with an emphasis on oral history of life and entropathy. The qualitative work included the following steps: a) bibliographic and documentary survey of secondary data; b) field research, characterized by systematic and participant observation, as well as the application of phenomenological interviews with a semi-structured script and photographic records; c) description and analysis of the interviews; d) categorization of interviews; e) preparation of cartographic material. The results showed that the local ecological knowledge of the people interviewed was acquired mainly through family interrelation as a social reproduction strategy. In this process, the role of the body-territory of the fisherman and fisherwoman in the field of environmental perceptions about the aquatic ecosystem services of production, regulation, support, phases of the hydrological cycle, natural ventilation and on the behavior of fish was revealed. Environmental perceptions converged on society and the State as responsible for the conservation or not of aquatic ecosystems and, consequently, of urban artisanal fisheries. It is concluded that the fisherman and artisanal fisherwoman of the Coroa do Meio neighborhood have a detailed knowledge related to ethnoichthyology, coherent and compatible with the theoretical data accessed. Such empirical knowledge constitutes an important local resource, currently threatened with extinction. From a theoretical point of view, the results found showed that fishermen and artisanal fisherwomen systematically develop theories about the functioning of aquatic ecosystem services and develop their practices based on this knowledge. The narratives also indicated that, in different ways, the interviewed group mobilized to guarantee the social reproduction of the class in the neighborhood, such as the union mobilization for the dredging of Boca da Barra de Aracaju. We can reflect that this movement indicates that this group transitively began to realize and reflect on the condition of their fishing class. It was also understood that the quality of the traditional way of life of artisanal fishing in the Coroa do Meio neighborhood requires the stimulation and strengthening of a critical awareness by society about the sustainable actions that urban artisanal fishing needs.