Decision-making processes by small-scale fishermen on the southeast coast of Brazil

Brazilian shrimp trawlers and gillnetters were compared regarding their decisions concerning effort, processing of fish, time spent fishing and how they are affected by environmental, cultural and economic factors. Landings were recorded over 13 months (n=424) and comprised mainly sea bob shrimp -Xyphopenaeus kroyeri (Heller) (95% of the trawler catch) and weakfish, Cynoscion jamaicensis (Vaillant & Bocourt) (30% of the gillnet catch). Catch per Unit of Effort varied across months, and the number of fishing trips per day was explained by wave height for both fisheries (trawlers: r²=0.4; gillnetters: r²=0.18). Trawlers spent more time fishing in the winter (H=11.6; P<0.05) and gillnetters in the summer (F=4.1; P<0.001), a decision that depended on the monetary profit they estimated beforehand or on the loss they had during the closed season. Cultural and economic variables (qualitatively addressed), such as how tedious they considered processing the catch or how much money they needed to make, affected their choice of processing it or not. Trawlers were subjected to taking risky actions, fishing on days when the return is highly variable (rkg=0.72; P<0.001; r$=0.65; P<0.001). Understanding such processes underpinning fishermen’s actions is essential for management.