Resumo

PEDROZA-GUTIERREZ, Carmen. Informality and intermediation in the primary sector: A comparative study between inland and marine fisheries. Ecosistemas y recur. agropecuarios [online]. 2014, vol.1, n.3, pp.233-247. ISSN 2007-901X.

In México, like in other developing countries, informal merchants dominate primary products' trading. The existence of these intermediaries is due, in part, to the producers' incapacity to market directly to consumers. To take their products to markets. In small-scale fisheries this is also a common phenomena. Considering these elements, this work aims to analyze the different intervention forms and the impact that these intermediaries might have on fishers and the fishing activity. The identification of these intermediaries strategies and their impact is an important way to have a better knowledge about the complex problematic surrounding fishing activity. This study was carried out using examples from marine and inland fisheries considering the port of Progreso in Yucatan, Lake Chápala (Michoacán) and Lake Yuriria (Guanajuato). This study is based on fieldwork carried out in Yucatan in 2009, Yuriria in 2011 and 2012, and Chápala in 2012. Results show that freshwater fishers have more disadvantages in this system exacerbated by the marginalization of their communities. Informal merchants transactions encourage illegal and unregistered fishing. Moreover, in Chápala and Yuriria they pay the lowest prices to fishers, while in Progreso they pay the highest, affecting the socio-ecologic fishing system.

Palavras-chave : Fish trading products; Informality; Lake Chápala; Lake Yuriria; port of Progreso.