Page 733 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

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FISHING EXPLOITATION IN THE EXCLUSIVE

BRAZILIAN ECONOMIC ZONE

Marcelo Francisco Nóbrega
Matheus Assis de Oliveira
Sergio Ricardo da Silveira Barros

Jorge Eduardo Lins Oliveira

1. National fishing production

Fishing is one of the oldest activities municipalities, including the maritime strip
carried out by man, dating from the period formed by the territorial sea, with a width
before the Neolithic, and its importance in of 12 miles from the coastline.
addition to economic is also cultural and The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has
symbolic. Several human groups have their an approximate area of 4.3 million square

origin based on activity, being responsible kilometers and 8.5 thousand kilometers of
for the physical and social reproduction of coastline. Along this extension, it shelters
their members (DIEGUES, 2004). In Bra- diverse and complex coastal ecosystems,
zil, fishing has been noted since colonial considering a latitudinal gradient in the
times as an important activity as a source North-South direction, from 4.2°N to 34°S.
of food for sugar cane mills and coastal These continental dimensions and the cli-
cities (DIEGUES, 2004). It is carried out in matic and morphological diversities of its
inland waters (rivers and reservoirs, among coastal and oceanic region made it neces-
other bodies of water), in the coastal zone sary to adopt measures and collect data on
and in the exclusive economic zone. The the production of fisheries resources, con-
Coastal Zone extends for more than 8,500 sidering the North, Northeast, Southeast
km, covering 17 states and more than 400 and South regions separately (Figure 1).

730 BLUE ECONOMY Fishing Exploitationin in the Brazilian Economic Zone 731
Fishing Exploitation in the Brazilian Economic Zone 731
730 A ECONOMIA AZUL