Traditional Fishermen’s Movement of the Paraná Coast (MOPEAR)

The “Fishermen of the Superagui: right to territory, to nature and to life” project aims to reclaim access to the territory of 230 traditional fishermen in Superagui National Park (Guaraqueçaba, PR), through participation in the implementation of this Conservation Unit’s management plan and through the demand to establish an Extractive Marine Reserve.

– Mapping the communities around Superagui National Park involved in the proposal to create an Extractive Marine Reserve.

– Promoting rights operator workshops that instrumentalize the fishermen themselves to create this Conservation Unit and participate in the construction of its management plan.

– Holding training courses that promote dialog in the community and facilitate comprehension of the themes; production of audiovisual materials, such as maps, booklets and videos that will be made available on the internet.

– Demanding the institution of an Extractive Marine Reserve, suppprted by data collected in the communities.

Blocked from accessing their territories where they practiced sustainable use of natural resources since 1989, when Superagui National Park was established, the small-scale fishermen of the region have suffered moral intimidation and a series of damages to their freedom of expression.

The boundaries of the national park resulted in the deterritorialization of these communities and the total disregard for their identity, leading to invisibility for these residents.  Furthermore, these fishermen have suffered the impacts of industrial fishing which, throughout the years, has caused the depredation of marine biodiversity and degradation of fishing stocks, putting the communities of mostly fishermen in an increasingly fragile state.

Since its creation in 2008, MOPEAR has been promoting the mobilization of Paraná coastal fishermen, especially those situated around Superagui National Park, to achieve recognition, from both society and the state, of their identity, their way of life and their rights as a traditional community. The movement has fought for the right to access territories traditionally occupied by communities of fishermen both on land and sea, against the abuse of power and disrespect for and violation of the group’s rights, and for greater visibility for the conflicts they have been suffering.

MOPEAR is a member of the Puxirão Network of Traditional Communities and Peoples of Paraná and Santa Catarina, which also includes organized groups of quilombos, islanders, faith healers, traditional agrarian communities, Afro-religious communities, gypsies, indigenous people and tropical plant harvesters.