Sustainable Fish Farming in Suriname

The Wayana are an ingenious tribe from the northern Amazon region. The life of the Wayana is still deeply intertwined with nature and their main source of livelihood comes from small-scale farming, while for their daily animal protein intake they fish the many rivers that cross these forests.

However, illegal miners are actively mining for gold in the same rivers. These gold miners use large amounts of poisonous mercury. Since mercury is a heavy metal, it accumulates from the river sediment, eventually reaching dangerously high levels in fish. Research shows that gold mining in this small South American country grew by 893 percent between 2000 and 2014 and that over 50 percent of investigated indigenous communities in Suriname are exceeding WHO safe thresholds in mercury levels in their blood samples, with children especially at risk of developing irreversible brain damage.

The Wayana in the remote community of Kawemhakan strongly believe that an alternative source of fish protein through sustainable small-scale fish farming is the key solution to this problem. One of their favorite fish is the Tambaqui, or Black bellied Pacu. This native fish is easy to farm and is already produced by a commercial hatchery in the capital. The project farms Tambaqui in a cooperative fashion with the community, and solely using sustainable protocols that will ensure environmental integrity and social responsibility to all community members.

Once the project proves to be a success in this community, it has enormous potential as a blueprint for sustainable development and livelihood provision across different indigenous communities in the amazon region.

Pictures copyright: Milton Kam. To read more about his fantastic work visit his website: pointsofrecognition.com