Consumo, comercialização e processamento dos produtos da pesca artesanal na Fronteira Oeste do RS

Abstract

Fishing is one of the most important human activities in some territories, including the West frontier region of Rio Grande do Sul. It is the source of food, commerce, income and leisure for a large part of its population, especially those that live on large and medium-sized river banks. This work is part of a social technological development project funded by CNPq, involving fishermen from Uruguaiana and Barra do Quaraí, and aimed to diagnose the main needs of this fishermen regarding fish processing and marketing. Prior to the diagnosis, in order to provide subsidies for the processing of fish in the region, a survey was conducted to characterize the consumer profile of the fish market in Uruguaiana, obtaining information regarding the species of consumer preference, frequency of consumption and reasons to buy and eat fish. The main demands identified by the fishermen were: difficulty selling after Holy Week, demand for prohibited species, difficulties in transporting fish and difficulty selling some species with low consumer acceptance, such as grumatã. From this survey, strategies will be developed, together with the fishermen to improve the presentation of fish, family generation and insertion of fish in the habit of consumption in the region.