Memórias e história da atividade baleeira na Paraiba: projetos alternativos e trajetória econômica, social e ambiental do município de Lucena (1980-2000).

Abstract

The so-called "whaling," Animal extractive activity practiced centuries in various ocean areas, was introduced in Lucena, on the northern coast of Paraíba in 1912. The activity ran for nearly a century, having been disabled by virtue of Federal Law 7643 in December 1987. The Fishing Company of Northern Brazil (COPESBRA), which generated dozens of jobs in the region, was responsible for the monopoly of the exploitation, processing and marketing of derivatives whalers to meet demand from domestic and international. This research aimed to produce a study on the memories and the history of whaling in Paraiba, analyzing the parallel debate on environmental issues and economic disruption related to this type of extraction, as well as effects on the population remaining whaling Lucena. To this end, we conducted an exploratory qualitative, based on the methodology of oral history in thematic. The statements obtained were analyzed by means of methodological procedures according Chizotti (2001), Alberti (2005), Delgado (2006) and Montenegro (2007, 2010). In addition to problems related to environmental degradation caused by the death of whales and systematically reported by the environmental movement, the study identified the exploitation to which workers were subjected to the whaling season, in contrast to the wealth accumulated through the marketing of derivatives whalers, by Japanese owners of the company. Investigation showed, furthermore, the material difficulties and insecurity, mainly caused by unemployment experienced by the population at the time of closing whaling activity. However, according to the statements analyzed, past the first difficulties, some former workers whalers turned to the exercise of other activities such as industry, trade, agriculture, and especially the return to fishing, the latter being the main alternative supplies of the remaining families of whaling.