Pirarucu in poachers' sights

■rc?:0

J'

;*

mz b£L eHMKIK, ______ _ __

FishermenunloadingpirarucuonadockattheMamirauaSustainableDevelopmentReserveinFonteBoa,Brazil,lastyear,afppic >>

POPULAR PROTEIN

PIRARUCU

HS>T H/<*/Zt, ±3.

i

f>; $ I

hacked upthepair’sbodiesand easytospotandkillasitneedsto ariskyendeavourthatcanbring hidtheremainsinthejungle. surfacetobreatheaboutevery20 the tribespeoplein contactwith

InBrazil’sAmazonasprovince, minutes. illegalfishermen,oftenarmed, pirarucu harvesting is strictly Knownlovinglytolocalsas“the “Theproject isvery important regulated. cowoftheAmazon”*presumably forus,”saidUnionofIndigenous IntheJavariValleywhichholds for its ability to feed manyat a Peoples of theJavari Valley co- thecountry’ssecond-largestpro- time, the pirarucu isalsoversa- ordinatorBusheMatis.

tected Indigenous reserve — tile: its skin is used for exotic “Before, people fished like home to seven tribes, including leatherproductslikeshoes,bags crazy.

the Kanamari only residents orwallets. “Fromnowon,wewilltakecare, mayhuntit. Pirarucu scales, reputedly re- ofthelakesandFishingareas,so

Yet,“theyarestealingfromus!” sistanttopiranhateeth,aresold thatwe will always havefish in said Joao Filho Kanamari, an totouristsaskeychains.

FISHlargerthanaman, Amazon resident who takes his Subject to overfishing in the A stocktake will occurwithin tasty as well as beauti- lastname from his tribe, which Brazilian Amazon, the pirarucu weeks, andiffish numbershave ful, the freshwater pi- comesinto regularconflictwith all but disappearedin the1990s recoveredsufficiently,theKana- rarucu is a favourite intrudersinpursuitoftheprized untilthegovernmentintroduced mariwillbe abletostartselling withpoachersinalawlesspartof fish. • fishingrestrictions. again.

theAmazonjunglewhereBrazil, Forthe Kanamari,thestoryof In2017,aprojectwasstartedin . Butthereareobstaclesahead:

PeruandColombiameet. thepirarucuisthatof“atreeleaf theJavariValleywiththehelpof the community still has to set Prizedforitsskinasmuchasits that fell into the water and be- an Indigenous non-governmen- up a cold chain to getthe fish - flesh,thepirarucuhaslongbeen came a giant fish”, tribal chief talorganisationcalledCTItoen- safelytoclientsfromalltheway a staple for Indigenous people Mauro da Silva Kanamari told surethecommunitywillbeable insidethebowelsofthejungle, who hunt theair-breathing fish AFP. to continue harvestingpirarucu and decidehowtosplitthepro­

inlakesintheJavariValley. Arapaimagigasbyitsscientific- for a long timeto come —sus- ceeds. i Butithasalsobecomeamuch name,Thepirarucu isoneofthe tainably. Somefeartheopeningtosales sought-after protein on the largest freshwater fish on the Theprojectismanagedbythe couldexposetheIndigenousjun- menusofgastronomicandfusion planet. Kanamarithemselves,whohave gledwellerstoawholenewkind restaurantsinRio,BogotaandLi- it is a weird-looking creature -voluntarily limited their,own ofrisk.

ma—itsrisingpopularitypush- with a pink, tapered tail, awk- catches of pirarucu and agreed Accordingtoone projectpro- ing up prices and raising the wardly-flattenedhead andglob- nottosellanyforfiveyears. moter, who asked not to be stakesforAmazondwellers. ular eyes reminiscent of a pre- "Theideaisthatthenativescan named, there is a danger of The growing appetite for pi- historicmonster. feedthemselves,providefortheir localpoliticiansorbusinessmen rarucu is blamed forthe deaths Anomnivore,thepirarucucan needs, allwhile protectingtheir “not necessarily well-inten- last'yearofIndigenousrightsde- growuptothreemetreslongand territory,” said CTI spokesman tionedandprobablyinvolvedin^ fenderBrunoPereiraandBritish weighover200kilogrammes. ThiagoArruda. illegal fishing networks” work- journalist Dorn Phillips at the Caught with nets and har- The project also involves pa- ing their way into the system, hands of fish poachers who poons,thegiantfishisrelatively trolstospotandreportpoachers, AFP.

Amazon dwellers' livelihoods in

danger as demand and prices for giant

fish go up

_■-c

JAVARI (Brazil!

thefuture.”

A

• jr