FISH FARMING IN WESTERN PARANÁ AND THE MARKETS: A LOOK FROM SOCIAL NETWORKS

Abstract

Brazilian aquaculture is an emerging agricultural chain that has stood out in several regions, especially the state of Paraná, which is the largest producer of fish in the country. Fish farming in the western region of Paraná has been growing in recent decades at rates higher than other animal protein production chains. In view of this, the problem arises to reflect on how these fish farmers, focusing on tilapia production, interact with the markets. Therefore, the study aimed to understand the nature of the sociability of fish farmers in the West of Paraná in interactions with markets. In its theoretical framework, it values the contributions of the New Economic Sociology (NSE) and the Theory of Conventions (French), with emphasis on the analytical concepts of social networks and the social construction of markets. In addition to the theoretical framework, there is an approach to the types of markets with which family farming interacts. The research is characterized as descriptive, exploratory and typological, therefore, with a qualitative emphasis. Four fish farming networks were characterized in the western region of Paraná, they are: (1) proximity fish farming network; (2) Gastronomy and Leisure Fish Farming Network; (3) fish farming network of small and medium-sized processing units; (4) Commodity fish farming network. These coexist and allow the identification of distinct patterns of economic behavior of fish farmers in interactions with markets, resulting from a historical process in the West that began in the 1980s. The originality of the research lies in the analysis of fish farming in the West of Paraná from the notion of social networks developed by the New Economic Sociology.