Demands and Challenges of Public Policies for Family Fish Farming

This study analyzes the demands and challenges of public policies for family fish farming in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, with an emphasis on fish marketing, production organization, and access to public policies. The research is based on an empirical survey of three family fish farmers’ associations. Twenty-six interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire covering socio-productive and organizational aspects, market typologies, and access to public policies. The results indicate that infrastructure fragility, especially the lack of properly certified fish-processing units, is a major bottleneck to accessing institutional markets. Furthermore, the lack of coordination between public policies and regulatory frameworks, as well as the inadequacy of sanitary requirements relative to the realities of family fish farming, are identified as factors that induce productive informality. Public technical assistance proved central to accessing credit, regularizing documentation, and entering formal markets. It is concluded that strengthening family fish farming in this context requires integrated public policies that support collective organizations, implement public processing infrastructure, expand continuous technical assistance, and adapt regulatory frameworks to territorial specificities, thereby contributing to more sustainable, equitable, and resilient aquaculture systems

Agriculture · Aquaculture · Bottleneck · Certification · Fish · Fish farming · Public policy · Aquaculture Nutrition and Growth · Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies · Rural Development and Agriculture