Life under impacts: Adaptation and vulnerability of coastal fishing communities after strong impact events in Brazilian coast
Socio-ecological resilience. Artisanal fishers. Oil spill. Pandemic.
After facing the impact of the major oil spill registered in Brazil, coastal fishing communities became even more harmed, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we assess the resilience of 19 fishing communities on the northeast coast facing the subsequent impacts of the oil spill of 2019 and the pandemic. We conducted online and presential semi-structured interviews with 156 fishers and shellfish gatherers of three coastal states to understand how resilience varies on different socioeconomic and fishing characteristics. We also obtained information about the coping mechanisms adopted by the fishers after the impacts. The majority of them couldn’t find other activities as coping mechanisms during the periods when fishing wasn’t allowed or profitable. Fishers with higher income and from Bahia state had higher resilience scores, while those who weren’t inside protected areas, lower. These communities yet experience a hard scenario, that strongly affected their social reproduction. It’s clear that should have efforts to compensate and also mitigate these impacts, but we also argue that anticipating new impacts that could affect coastal communities in the future can give fishermen greater chances of being resilient.