A recent study carried out by the NGO FaunAgua, in collaboration with WWF, and presented to a high level governmental commission, gave convincing results in terms of the possible impacts that could be caused by the Jirau and San Antonio dams - on the Madeira River in Brazil - on the fishing economy and food security of the inhabitants of the Bolivian Amazon.
The study reports that in the Amazon fish are a part of the diet for approximately 950,000 people in Bolivia, and that roughly 155,000 people living along river banks in the Departments of Beni, Pando, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and La Paz carry out subsistence fishing. It also gave information on the existence of some 16,000 commercial fishermen who generate USD 4,000,000 annually (approximately 3,200 metric tons annually from commercial fishing). The study goes on to indicate that the current fishing activity barely represents 10% of the fishing potential in the Bolivian Amazon and could represent up to 0.3% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The species of Amazon fish that are currently targeted for commercial fishing are Prochilodus nigricans
, catfish (Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum
), cod (Brachyplatystoma filamentosum
) and red belly pacu (Piaractus brachypomus
). Of these commercially fished species, 80% are migratory; in other words, they first migrate up river (from Brazil to Bolivia) to spawn and then return in the opposite direction to develop. In spite of a system which is supposed to allow the fish to pass through the dams, this migration – vital to the survival of these fish – will be reduced by the dams which will be obstacles in their migratory habits.
The final recommendations of the study bring attention to three fundamental aspects:
- National hydro-electric energy policies should take into consideration not only economic aspects, but also ecological and socio-cultural aspects as well;
- The dams should be placed above the range of the migration of fish; and
- Smaller dams have less of a socio-cultural and environmental impact in comparison to larger dams, such as those planned for Jirau and San Antonio on the Madeira River.