Lambari Aquaculture as a Means for the Sustainable Development of Rural Communities in Brazil

The challenge of developing rural communities is to combine socioeconomic enhancement and environmental conservation. Sustainable aquaculture using low-trophic level native small fish could be an important tool to aid in the challenge. Lambari are a fish group widely distributed on neotropical and subtropical watersheds, which can be a good model for studies on the performance of small fish sustainable aquaculture to develop rural communities. A review of the available information on the status and potential economic and socio-ecological impacts of this innovative initiative is described in this article. A case study of lambari aquaculture in a rural community located in a protected coastal rainforest in southeastern Brazil was also reported. The review showed large diversification in the culture systems and management, and consequently, in the productivity. Poor management practices exist and current science-based information is still insufficient to provide technology to match rural farmer realities or needs. Simple, alternative strategies are needed to improve systems' efficiencies. Nevertheless, with participatory applied science, the aquaculture of indigenous, low-trophic level small fish, such as the lambari, can be an important tool for sustainable food production and development of rural populations, and an alternative income source for poor communities remaining in nature reserves.