This Tuesday morning (17), the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in Alagoas participated in the inspection of the Santo Antônio River, in the municipality of Barra de Santo Antônio, due to the recent fish deaths reported in the media. The action was carried out in collaboration with the Alagoas Environmental Institute (IMA) and…
MPF/AL Communication
This Tuesday morning (17), the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in Alagoas participated in the inspection of the Santo Antônio River, in the municipality of Barra de Santo Antônio, due to the recent fish deaths reported in the media. The action was carried out together with the Alagoas Environmental Institute (IMA) and the State Secretariat for the Environment and Water Resources (Semarh), which collected water samples from various points in the river, including the water catchment area to supply the city.
No dead fish or crustaceans were found during the inspection, which is expected considering the reported deaths occurred on Saturday 14th. The collected material will be analyzed and used as a basis for comparison with past and future collections, to identify possible causes of environmental damage.
After the examination, prosecutor Juliana Câmara met at the base of the Chico Mendes Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio), in the municipality, with an employee of the environmental agency and the president of the Z-14 Fishermen’s Colony, Bernardo Costa. The fisherman reported that he could not confirm the exact location of the fish deaths whose images were circulating on social media and the media, but he explained in detail how this event tends to recur almost every year in Barra de Santo Antônio, especially in the villages of Caiana and Carreiras.
The public prosecutor asked the president of the colony to inform local fishermen about the mobilization of inspection bodies and the importance of immediately reporting new deaths of fish or crustaceans.
“It has been diagnosed that the degradation of the Santo Antônio River is caused by various factors, but periodically many fish appear dead in the estuary area, indicating an unusual event. The traditional knowledge of the fishermen who have lived and worked in the area for many years is essential to add to the technical knowledge of the inspection bodies and allow the identification of those responsible for this event, thus allowing the recovery of the environment”, says Juliana Câmara.
MPF continues to monitor the case and awaits the results of laboratory analysis to take necessary action if any irregularities are found.
