When we talk about industrial fishing, we immediately think of large-scale fishing. This type of fishing uses medium and large vessels, requires appropriate port infrastructure for unloading fish, and the fishermen work through an employment relationship with the person responsible for the vessel. To carry out this activity, which aims to catch large numbers of fish, it is necessary to use sophisticated technology, unlike artisanal fishing, which is based on simplicity.
The industrial fishing segment is exclusively geared towards commercial purposes and represents great social and economic relevance for Brazil. It is a basic activity, supplying raw materials for large industries in food distribution centers.
Industrial fishing in Brazil is made up of around 1,600 vessels (according to the Computerized System of the General Registry of Fishing Activities – SisRGP) and involves around nine thousand workers on these vessels. The main ports of unloading of the industrial fleet along the Brazilian coast are: Belém (PA), Fortaleza (CE), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Santos (SP), Itajaí (SC) and Paranaguá (PR).
The most commonly used gear in industrial fishing is: pair trawling (single and double), gillnetting (surface, bottom and mid-water), longline (surface and bottom), seine, rod and live bait, automatic treble hooks, handline and trap.
In the North and Northeast regions, fishing activity is focused on catching piramutaba (only in the North), snapper and shrimp. In the Southeast/South region, the industrial fleets with the highest fishing output are gillnet, purse seine and trawl. These fisheries are multi-specific and each modality has variations in the gear that modify their way of operating and the species they capture. However, some species stand out both for the quantity caught and for their economic value, among them: sardines and mullet by purse seine fleets; brown and white sea bass by gillnet and trawl fleets; pink shrimp and red beard shrimp by trawl fleets.
Since 2004, PROFROTA – the National Program for Financing the Expansion and Modernization of the National Fishing Fleet has been providing financing for the acquisition, construction, conservation, modernization, adaptation and equipping of fishing vessels. PROFROTA ensures the sustainability of both the coastal and continental industrial fleet, promotes maximum use of catches, increases and improves national fish production and consolidates the renewal of the Brazilian oceanic fishing fleet.
In 2004, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA) also created a policy aimed at installing Public Fishing Terminals (TPPs), which are structures designed to handle everything from receiving fish to distributing them to the market, with less waste and higher quality products for consumers. Some important terminals are already in operation, such as Santos (SP), Cananéia (SP), Laguna (SC), Camocim (CE) and Vitória (ES). Those in Santana (AP), Cabedelo (PB), Salvador (BA), Ilhéus (BA) and Niterói (RJ) are operating in a pre-operational mode. Four other TPPs are under construction and seven more are planned by the MPA.