Identificação de novas espécies com potencial para a criação em cativeiro: pescado capturado no estado do Amazonas

Abstract

The Amazon region has around 40 species of fishes being explored and commercialized daily, especially in markets and fairs. Fisheries are basically artisanal, directed towards a small number of species, causing the over exploitation of certain fishing stocks. However, some species have certain characteristics for farming, which would help diminish the fishing pressure over these species. With the objective of identifying new species for farming, fishing variables were analyzed from the Várzea Natural Resource Management Project s data base. The gathering of information took in consideration the years from 2001 to 2004, allowing the identification of fisheries captured along the main channel of the Amazon river. Data analyses revealed that the 10 main most captured fish categories, were responsible for 82,46% of the total volume captured in the state of Amazonas, with special reference to the order of the Characiforms, representing 78,34% of the captures. The abundance of fishery resources depends directly on the environmental variations (inundation), fact that contributes to the oscillation of the price and inconstancy of the availability some species of fishes during the flooded season. Fish farming can precisely compensate this need of the market and dilute the pressure over the natural stocks. The informations obtained from ProVárzea/Ibama about fish farming data in the State and the fisheries exportation of fisheries, gathered from SEAP/PR and Fishery Resource Center of Ibama/AM, the aruanã and mapará can be pointed out as species with farming potential. The analyzes involving captur per unit effort revealed a productivity of 11-20 Kg/Fisherman/Day for the aruanã, which is the fifth category most captured in the state (3,83% of the total) and the seventh of the exportation list; and 21-31 Kg/Fisherman/Day for the mapará, tenth most captured species and the third in terms of exportation. The analyses of carcass profit and chemical composition and quality of fishes, revealed that the carnivorous aruanã, captured mainly in the dry season and that had its filet as the main commercialized product, presented a profit of 29,15 ± 1,48%, with the chemical analyses, characterizing it as a low fat fish (0,08%) with high protein value (15,19 %). The planktophagous mapará, captured throughout the year, presented a profit of its filet of 53,04 ± 1,40% and the chemical analyses allowed the classification of this fish as fat (21,21% fat) with low protein value (12,85 %).