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Schoolchildren intheBarcelosregion.Manyof their familiesearntheir livingbycollectingornamental fishes.
School bus in theBarcelos region.
problems. Scott Dowd is currently the lea-
derof theproject.
It is fascinating towatchhow the local fis-
hermencollect the fishescarefullyandvery
skillfullywith their littlenets.Theentire fa-
mily,whose life takesplacealmost exclusi-
velyon theverandaof theirstraw-thatched
hut on the river bank,helpswith thework.
They sort the fishes and transfer them into
baskets using hollowed-out gourds. Un-
wanted bycatches are sorted out on the
spot and returned to thewater.
"I knowof noothermoreenvironmentally
friendly fishery," enthuses Scott. But we
A typical settlementon theRioNegro.
All photos:UlrichGlaser
cannothelpbutaskhowevenso largea re-
gion can copewith the annual removal of
more than30million fishes?Scottexplains
it tous.Theentire,vastAmazon region isaf-
fected by dramatic fluctuations in water
level.Everyyear,during thedry season, the
water level drops by around 10meters, in
order to riseagainverydramaticallyduring
the rainyseason.This is,by theway,the rea-
sonwhy thehousesof the local peopleare
built on tall stilts on the bank.When the
water level sinksmillionsofornamental fis-
hes disappear, trapped in evaporating
poolsorpuddles.Evolutionhasadapted to
this. Many species produce enormously
largenumbersof offspringvia theproduc-
tion of hundreds, sometimes even thou-
sands, of eggs by a singlemother fish. In
thisway thepopulation recoversagainwith
every rainy season.
In fact the fishes that are collectedandex-
ported toaquariaallover theworldarebet-
ter off, as numerous fishes live for many
years in the aquarium,while in thenatural
habitat they survive for only one season,
anenvironmentally-friendlyandprofessio-
nal manner and to train the fishermenon
thespot so theyarebetterqualified for the
work.Thismeans that the inhabitantsof the
regioncanearn their living inasustainable
fashionandarenot forced to resort toalter-
nativesourcesof incomesuchas the felling
of forestwithall thewell-known associated
