Governança e licenciamento ambiental para piscicultura: um estudo de multicasos no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul

Abstract

The global fish farming is one of the fastest growing productive activities in the food sector. In Brazil, the continental aquaculture offers great potential for growth. Fish farming, however, is hampered by bureaucracy, slowness of environmental processes, lack of information and high costs to the fish farmers. Environmental licensing stands out as the most important and effective environmental management tool in Brazil. The objective of this study was to analyze the environmental governance structures of the fish production chain in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, on the use of simplified licensing as a form of environmental regulation of small farms. The research was characterized as descriptive and exploratory qualitative. Empirical research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with a sample of fish farmers, representatives of associations and cooperatives, technical environmental agencies (state and municipal) and warehouses and refrigerators of fish. The survey results show that fish farming is practiced as a way of diversifying production in small family farms, with areas of up to 5.0 hectares of water depth, as a complementary activity, together with other agricultural activities. Although legislative and institutional changes relating to simplified environmental fish farming licensing have contributed positively to the environmental regularization of family farms, and promote the reduction of costs and time for granting environmental permits, it turns out even the existence of enterprises without environmental permits or with expired and not renewed licenses (26.3%), mainly due to lack of knowledge by small fish farmers or the lack of information from environmental agencies involved, institutions, associations and fish farmers cooperatives. The lack of public policies and partnerships between producers and refrigerated fish; the lack of alternative marketing channels, given the legal restrictions or sanitary requirements; and the lack of incentives, tax benefits or tax exemptions for the development of local, regional or state fish farming, like the programs run in other states, generate uncertainty, mainly to small fish farmers who ultimately paralyze their activities.