Vulnerability among fishers in southern Brazil and its relation to Marine Protected Areas in a scenario of declining fisheries

Vulnerability of small-scale fishers in the north coast of Paraná State, Southern Brazil, has been increasing due to a decline in catches and general problems of access to and management of natural resources, associated with biodiversity conservation policies. The predicted effects of climate change will represent an additional source of disturbance on local livelihoods. This study aimed to describe vulnerability of fishers and their adaptation strategies to ongoing reductions in catches, considered an analogue of possible responses to expected effects of climate change, and to evaluate the influence of no-take protected areas on them. Interviews were applied to 213 households, in 9 villages from Guaraqueçaba, in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex. Results show that vulnerability varies in different spatial levels, mainly due to differences in the reliance on fisheries as a source of income, and in distribution of physical and social capital. Protected areas, if not adequately managed, can have a double negative effect on more vulnerable households, by restricting their access to mangrove resources in the present, and by limiting the viability of their favoured adaptation strategy for the future. These results are potentially useful for the development of biodiversity conservation and fisheries management actions adequate to the local level, and that contribute to reduce inequality and build resilience of fishers and the coastal ecosystems they rely on, in a scenario of declining fisheries and climate change.