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The Amazonian pirarucu is already one of the most popular fish in specialised restaurants in Brazil.
To find out about the origin of the fish from the beginning of the production chain to the consumer's table, several chefs were invited to learn how the species is managed in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve in Amazonas.
As well as preserving and sustainably catching pirarucu, another goal is to sell the species to the national and international markets.
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Narration
‘Pirarucu management is one of the most impressive examples we have in the world of conserving biodiversity and improving the quality of life of local populations. As well as recovering wild pirarucu populations, management has enabled a series of social, economic and cultural benefits. ’
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- Port of Carauari, Amazonas
Priscila Deus - Chef
‘The expectation as a chef to enter the Amazon is sensational.
To be in contact with nature, to really get to know the centre of our country and the world.
So I'm feeling completely grateful.
And I hope to leave here with this marvellous energy, feeling this peace here.’
Daiti - Chef
‘I think it's very important for us cooks to understand where the input comes from, how it's treated, how it's cared for, how it's fished, how it's stored...it's...at least for me to make a dish that has a story.’
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Adevaldo Dias - President of the Chico Mendes Institute (ICMBio)
‘This expedition to include chefs here in the middle Juruá, in the São Raimundo community, is a strategy to engage.... is a strategy of ours from the pirarucu collective, to engage more players in this community management strategy.’
Ana Cláudia Torres - Mamirauá Institute
‘It's precisely to sensitise the chefs, so that they can be what we call ambassadors for the pirarucu.
In their restaurants, for their clientele, they can present the product, talk about this Amazonian story that is so beautiful and cool.’
**Soundtrack
24-hour boat journey - (foot wheel)
Another 2 hours by canoe - (foot wheel)
Priscila Deus - Chef
Is this the room I'm sleeping in tonight?
- Answer (man in green shirt): This one is.
Where's my hammock?
Oh, what a beautiful thing!
A baby holding another baby.
É !
That's yours! (man in orange shirt)
That's mine, yeah!
Let me help you.
The thing is to know how to tie the knot, right?
It's the first time I've slept in a hammock!
Oh, is it the first time? (man in orange shirt)
- Answer: First time.
This is so you don't have to fall out! (man in orange shirt)
‘Laughs
There you go... now!
Now I'm comfortable.
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São Raimundo Community
Raimundo - President of the São Raimundo Community
‘Comunidade São Raimundo is a community that used to be known as the manioc community, we lived outside the conservation unit. And then we felt the need to move, when the Reserve was created and everything, and then we felt the need to move to the conservation unit. So we arrived here with an average of 20 families. Today there are 42 families here in the São Raimundo community. And so, the main economic activities are: pirarucu management, extractivism in general, including oilseeds such as andiroba, murumuru and cuúba.
There's also rubber tapping, which is a community culture. So much so that today there are many more young people cutting rubber than old people, because it's an activity that is passed down from father to son, and family farming with flour. So these are the activities that generate income for the community.’
Dona Moça - community resident
‘We've been living here for four years.
Is there nothing missing here?
- Answer: No
Do you want to leave?
- Answer: No.
How many children?
- Answer: 9.
But do they all live here?
-Answer: All of them.
That's my mum!
What's your name?
- Answer: Maria
She came to visit me, she lives somewhere else.’
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Manuel Cunha - ICMBio
‘Until the 1980s we lived in a system of semi-slavery brought in by the rubber bosses who took over the land, but they didn't own it.
We fought to get out of the bosses' clutches. We organised ourselves to get out of their clutches, but we were prevented from removing the rubber. We fought again and got possession of the region and the creation of the extractive reserve of the middle Juruá on 4 March 1997.’
‘The communities were worried about all the species that were out of balance. The chelonians and the pirarucu were the most worrying. So the community decided to monitor the species. A lot of pirarucu began to appear, so much so that we can feed the whole community and still have enough left over for management.’
(roda pé - 1st management of the Juruá Reserve was in 2011)
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Ana Cláudia Torres - Mamirauá Institute
‘As a social technology, pirarucu management connects with the population through this interaction. Scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge are based on this foundation, which is precisely this union between these two types of knowledge.’
Jota - Juruá Institute
‘Pirarucu is a fantastic species that evolved in a low-oxygen environment.
When it is born it breathes through its gills, but as it grows it changes the way it breathes and begins to breathe through its swim bladder in a modified way.
in a modified way, so it has to come to the surface to capture oxygen. When it comes to capture oxygen and it does this every 20 minutes, the fishermen realise that this is the moment when you can count how many individuals there are in the lake. So, because of the pirarucu's respiratory physiology, it's possible to know how many pirarucu there are in each lake. This helps in the management process, because through the total number of fish you can think of a sustainable quota, which is that part to be fished without compromising the stock of pirarucu in that lake.’
two fishermen in the canoe
‘Look there... that one floated away. Didn't you see it?
It floated.’
Ana Cláudia Torres - Mamirauá Institute
Two size classes of pirarucu are counted: pirarucu from 1 metre to 1.5 metres are considered juveniles, and from 1.5 metres are considered adults. Pirarucu under 1 metre are not counted, why? Because the shoal can be confused with the shoal of other fish. This can lead to double counting.
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Francisco ‘Bacote’ - fisherman
‘When the day comes, we get anxious ... well, it's already light... we're already going to start fishing.
I feel good! It's a joy to be fishing. I feel good fishing.’
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Francisco ‘Bacote’ - fisherman
‘We see where the most fish are gathered. Where they're floating the most. We know that the more fish are floating, the more fish are gathered. We place what we call a mesh. We place them a thousand metres apart.’
Francisco ‘Tico’ - fisherman (in the canoe)
‘You catch the fish first, then wait for it to stop wiggling. This causes it to faint and then you cut the pirarucu's throat. Put it in the canoe, mark the time it was caught. After catching eight, nine or 10 pirarucus, the transporter takes the fish to another boat to be treated and packaged.
narration (man in white uniform with cap)
‘We're going to do the biometrics process here. Centre and seventy-six centimetres. slaughter time 9.52. Put the seal on.’
narration
‘The fish processing process here is done by women’
- banner: ‘10 women are in charge of gutting the pirarucus.’
The women begin their work by removing the pirarucu's lungs. They do it very quickly. After that, the fish is washed and brushed to make it clean. The pirarucu is then weighed and put on ice.’
João da Mata - ICMBio environmental analyst’
The state of Amazonas has a very favourable regulatory environment for the development of management compared to other areas.
Federal legislation establishes a six-month fishing ban, and the government of Amazonas has extended the level of protection for this activity for the rest of the year.
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Manuel Cunha - ICMBio
‘When fishing takes place, Asproc - the Carauari Rural Producers' Association - has another role, which is marketing.
For example: we catch 30 tonnes of fish. We then send it to Asproc, in Carauari, for commercialisation.’
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City of Carauari - Amazonas - Brazil
Manuel Cunha - ICMBio
‘Asproc will receive, check and weigh the fish. Then we'll put the fish in the fridge and start the processing process.’
Manelzinho - slaughterhouse manager
‘The quota we're requesting is based on commitments we've already made, or that are already under negotiation, so that we don't end up with stock without being able to negotiate. As well as supplying the state of Amazonas, we also sell to the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Recife. Our next step will be an export experiment.’
Pedro Constantino - forestry service
‘We had to start working on communication and promoting a product that wasn't well known in the market. That's why we created the ‘Taste of the Amazon’ brand. A collective brand that represents all the managers, the pirarucu management fishing arrangements that make up this collective and that carries attributes and values.’
Adevaldo Dias - President of the Chico Mendes Institute (ICMBio)
‘The fish that carries this brand is a guarantee of sustainable management origin. Another aspect of the brand is fair representation with the community. It's not enough just to be a pirarucu, you have to be and consume a pirarucu that has a relationship, a fair remuneration for those who manage it, like the São Raimundo community.’
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Priscila Deus - Chef
‘I've heard that a pirarucu is going to arrive today especially for the chefs here, and we're going to make some dishes especially for the community here in São Raimundo, so that they can try something different made by us. We're waiting for the fish to arrive, but we already have some ideas. We're talking about grilling pirarucu.
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Daiti - Chef
‘I'm going to make ceviche, and I'm going to make it breaded. I'm just choosing the best parts to make the ceviche.’
Priscila Deus - Chef
‘Here we have a belly with bones. I'm doing it as if it were a bovine cut of pirarucu. We have the bone-in belly. We're making the loin and belly on the bone to roast for the people here in the community in the traditional parilla way.’
Manuel Cunha - ICMBio (among the people)
‘We never imagined a pirarucu cut with ribs, bone, spine, everything, and with a very beautiful appearance, I know it's very good. We wish you all a good meal.’
Daiti - Chef
‘I come from Japan, so in our culture food is raw. So this is a challenge for everyone in the community. I made an oriental ceviche, it's raw. But it's fresh and tasty. All you have to do is try it, it's fine! You won't run away!
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Community resident
‘Impressive! We had the privilege of learning how to make these dishes with the chefs. We used to prepare pirarucu differently. This time, I thought it was excellent.
Ted - Usaid
‘Congratulations, I really liked the ceviche you made. I know the community isn't used to eating raw fish, but it's really delicious. I also really liked the pirarucu barbecue, which was delicious.
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Manuel Cunha - ICMBio
‘A disorganised community is nothing! It has no prosperity. It has no organised production. And it ends up not progressing at the speed it needs to. One of the criteria for management is to have an organised community. The benefit comes from organising the groups. When you strengthen community organisation, you strengthen your mother association. With its parent association strengthened, it can raise more funds, have the capacity to discuss projects, draw up public policies to present to the government, which is a bit of what Asproc does here in the middle Juruá.
Raimundo - President of the São Raimundo Community
‘When we talk about the collective, we're also talking about the integration of other genders. We know that it's a fishing activity, that there are more men, especially the elderly because of their experience. So we felt the need to include young people and women. And then, in the first management, few women took part. And those who did were paid less than the men. The same happened with the younger ones. In the second management, we changed this process. Since it's collective work, the pay became equal.’
Maria Cunha - telehealth agent
‘Specifically, the pirarucu chain has strengthened not only the veteran women, who were dominated wives. They had to submit as housewives,
to look after only their children and husbands. It has also strengthened women to think beyond the community term. Today, they see themselves as managers, extractivists,
fisherwomen, and presidents of associations. They also see themselves as community representatives.’
Jota - Juruá Institute
‘The management of pirarucu, and other chains as well, appears to be a great model for the Amazon. Where we can exploit nature in a sustainable way, ensuring social justice. And that this exploitation is led by local communities and associations. It guarantees space for local leaders
in decision-making. And above all, that the benefits of exploiting natural resources are better distributed. Generating income for the communities
that protect a large part of the forest.’
Priscila Deus - Chef
‘Although I know that the product I get in the restaurants in São Paulo comes from here, I support the community by buying the product. It's very different to see and understand all the organisation that goes on around a product. It's a sensational and exciting experience.’
Vera - Chef
‘I really believe that when you get to know the whole production chain, adding value, and take this to the end consumer so that they understand the price of the product, the origin, and the logistics. You teach them to appreciate and understand food better by not just looking at price, but value.’
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Source: Amazon Agency