Levantamento ambiental e pesqueiro dos rios Jaboatão e Pirapama no Estado de Pernambuco, Brasil

Abstract

The increasing human populations that live on, work with and use resources of coastal areas place pressure on these resources, which, together with pressure from natural sources, must be monitored and understood in order to ensure the preservation of the environment and maintenance of quality of life. The rivers that empty along the coast of the state of Pernambuco (Brazil) receive all types of polluted discharge throughout their extension, such as agricultural waste, domestic sewage and industrial waste, and exhibit serious ecological disturbances (Braga, 1992; Farias, 2002). The aim of the present study was to carry out a detailed evaluation of the current environmental and fishery status of the estuary of the Jaboatão and Pirapama Rivers through a study of water quality and biotic variables, including the current status of fishery resources and the economic situation of local fisheries. For the environmental analysis, samplings were carried out in two phases (beginning of the rainy season and dry season) in the region, monitoring the following parameters: biochemical oxygen demand (range: 0.54 to 21.09 mg.L-1), dissolved oxygen (range: 0.00 to 9.42 mg.L-1), salinity (range: 0.00 to 34.52), water surface temperature (range: 26.0 to 31.0° C) and pH (range: 5.62 to 8.73). For the fishery analysis, five collections were carried out in the rainy season for the acquisition of samples and assessment of fishery productivity, which varied in accordance with the zoological group. Socioeconomic data were collected from the administration of questionnaires considering the fishery activity as a whole. If urgent environmental recuperation actions are not taken for this body of water, the Jaboatão River may undergo ecological collapse in upcoming years, losing all its functions as an aquatic ecosystem and becoming a dead river, an open sewage drain, which is worrisome fromecological, environmental and social standpoints.