Rio de Janeiro, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 20th Aug, 2024) Brazilian activist and fisherman Alexandre Anderson uses one hand to steer his boat and the other to film an oil spill spread over Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay.
Upload the video to an app developed to expose the environmental damage in the iconic bay crucial for tourism and the fishing industry, but plagued by oil spills, chemicals and untreated sewage.
Guanabara Bay, a natural harbor of about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles), battles not only pollution from visiting ships and oil rig accidents, but also from old ships abandoned in its waters and runoff from cities.
Frustrated by what they see as a lack of official response, the fishermen of the bay decided to take matters into their own hands, and with the support of the non-governmental organization 350.org, they developed an app to them
“We used to take pictures with our cell phone or a camera,” but without accurate geolocation data, it was of little use, Anderson – president of the bay’s Ahomar fishermen association – told AFP while filming a constant flow of wastewater. unloaded from a ship.
The app, however, “gives me the exact data” with which to make a complaint, anonymously.
The information is verified by a moderator and published on a dedicated website, after which it is reported to authorities such as the environmental regulator Ibama of the country or the Brazilian navy, which patrols the bay.
Whenever he monitors the dark waters for a few hours, Anderson comes across several illegal spills, he says.
In the three weeks since the app launched on July 26, 20 complaints have been posted online, and more than 100 others are being analyzed, according to administrators.
– “Practically” no more sea bass or whiting –
“The inspection agencies have always said they don’t have the tools to handle complaints,” said Paulo Barone, who belongs to another local fishermen’s association.
But with this new app, he said, authorities “can no longer deny or ignore” complaints.
For 350.org’s Brazil coordinator, Luiz Afonso Rosario, artisanal fishermen have been on the “front line” for too long.
“Oil and gas companies, in addition to polluting the waters that are a source of food, income and entertainment for thousands of families, are exacerbating the climate crisis … by providing fossil fuels that are the main cause of global warming,” he said. .
Fishermen were particularly affected by a spill in 2000 that saw 1.3 million liters of oil dumped into the bay from a Petrobras refinery.
“This has ended fishing. You practically don’t find sea bass (or) blackbird anymore,” said Roberto Marques Resende, who still fishes in the region.
For some, the battle is more than just subsistence.
Anderson, who has been fronting the petrochemical industry for years, says it has been the target of threats and attacks for years and hopes the app will help ensure “those responsible are truly punished.”
“Only then will we solve these problems,” he said.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by pipanews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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