Maricultura e território em Santa Catarina - Brasil

Abstract

The sea is an important food source throughout the world and the principal source of protein for approximately one billion people. For this reason aquaculture is so important, especially when conduct on a small scale. Santa Catarina State has small scale mussel- and oyster-raising projects. Although commercial aquaculture is recent in Brazil, after being initiated in Santa Catarina in 1990, it is expanding significantly. Because its similarity with land cultivation, aquaculture is included in rural development programs under jurisdiction of the Ministério da Agricultura e do Abastecimento (Ministry of Agriculture and Supply). The principal goal of this study is to show how the commercial appropriation of the sea causes it to be transformed from a “space” into a “territory”, in the sense that it is defined by power relations. These relations are permeated by conflicts between cottage fishing and industrial fishing; between real state speculation and tourism and traditional populations; between environmentalists and extractive communities and others.