Long-term coastal adaptation, food security and poverty alleviation in Latin America

Project Information

TRADITION

Grant agreement ID: 817911

DOI

10.3030/817911

Project closed

EC signature date 3 April 2019

Start date 1 September 2019

End date 31 August 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 877 107,00

EU contribution

€ 1 877 107,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - TRADITION (Long-term coastal adaptation, food security and poverty alleviation in Latin America)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

TRADITION is investigating the Historical Ecology of small-scale fisheries in South America, specifically by looking at 6000-year record of coastal exploitation along the coast of Brazil. We are drawing together archaeological, palaeoecological, historical, and ethnographic records to address how past coastal economies adapted to the spread of agriculture, what was the impact of past climate and environmental changes on coastal populations, what was the impact of European colonisation on the development of small-scale fisheries, what was the role of historical institutions and regulations in the negotiation between traditional and modern practices in small-scale fisheries, how have the historical practices and events shaped current small-scale coastal communities, and finally how can this knowledge benefit current management strategies.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

TRADITION tackled four objectives through seven WPs at UAB and UoY: SO1 the role of coastal resources after the advent of ceramics/agriculture; SO2 climate–environmental impacts on coastal populations; SO3 the socio-economic development of small-scale fisheries during colonization/urbanization; SO4 how historical practices shape today’s communities and management. We combined molecular archaeology, human osteoarchaeology, artefact and zooarchaeological analyses, robust radiocarbon modelling (SO1–SO2), quantitative coding of manuscripts/newspapers/government reports (SO3), and sustained engagement in Babitonga Bay (citizen science, gamification, short documentary) with stakeholder interfaces from Painel Mar to IPOS/Ocean Decade (SO4).

Findings reframed regional histories: southern Brazil emerges among the world’s earliest centres of active whaling (McGrath et al., under review, Nat. Commun.); pre-colonial groups did not overexploit environments and interacted with outsiders (Toso et al., 2021; Fossile et al., 2024); a shift toward plant-based economies followed Guarani-driven population replacement (Admiraal et al., 2023); early European colonisation did not raise catches but disrupted local traditions (Herbst et al., 2023); industrial fisheries grew via abolition, European migration, rising urban middle classes, and state subsidies (Herbst et al., 2023, 2024); communities still seek recognition (Gerhardinger et al., in prep.). Historical legacies persist today, especially among lower-income groups (Colonese et al., 2023; Di Muro et al., under review).

Methodological advances included CSIA (C, N, S) on human/faunal collagen, large-scale lipid-residue analysis of Brazilian ceramics with expanded modern baselines, and a stakeholder strategy game for integrating past–present–future ocean governance. TRADITION met—and often exceeded—its objectives: 30 peer-reviewed papers to date, with more forthcoming; contributions to major initiatives (e.g. ERC SeaChange), attraction of MSCA fellows (PACHAMAMA; NEARCOAST) and MSCA-ITN/EJD PhDs (ChemArch), and strong visibility despite COVID-era constraints. The project has been recognised internationally, including by IPOS. Ethics approvals were secured (IPHAN, SisGen, CONEP). Guided by collegiality, respect for local partners, and capacity building, TRADITION leaves a durable legacy of Brazil-led satellite initiatives (Fossile, Gerhardinger, Herbst) and a nationally novel model for integrating diverse knowledge systems.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We mde significant progress on three main fronts:
1) Blue Justice: we have brought archaeology and history to conservation and management strategies of coastal systems and small-scale fisheries in Brazil. We contributed to the policy brief on the legacy of the political and economic history of small scale fisheries to be presented to the Brazilian parliament as part of a joint effort to enhance awareness of blue justice in the sector; We developed Networked Blue Justice Pathways (NBJP), a novel conceptual framework aimed at generating actionable knowledge at different governance scales. This approach employs gamification and participatory social network mapping to integrate diverse perspectives - past, present, and future - into collaborative designs of sustainable ocean pathways. We provided foundational support to IPOS, which is positioning itself as a key player at the global ocean science–policy interface.
2) Science: We have developed the first reference baseline based on archaeological and historical records for fisheries conservation, which is inspiring marine ecologists and biologists across the country and enhancing the visibility of archaeology and history in conservation debates. The faunal database of TRADITION is now part of the Brazilian Biodiversity Information System (SiBBr), which is making the information generated by the project publically available; we have advanced the identification of maize in organic residues of ceramic artefacts, which has so far been frustratingly complex in the field of biomolecular archaeology; we applied CSIA at scale to human bone collagen and fatty acids recovered from ceramic artefacts at pre-colonial and historical sites in Brazil, refining our understanding of the isotopic ranges in consumer tissues; We analysed historical records quantitatively to uncover human perceptions of fisheries change over time, elevating the value of period newspapers and institutional reports for fisheries science in Brazil.
3) Historical narratives: We showed that whaling did not arise solely among Arctic and subarctic foragers, but it was also practiced in subtropical South America, earlier than in parts of the Northern Hemisphere; that far from operating in silos, coastal communities derive resilience from flexibility and interactions with outsiders who possess distinct economic systems. In Brazil, the shift from coastal resilience to plant-production economies was driven by large-scale population replacement with the expansion of Guarani groups from the Amazon; that models developed to explain the historical growth of fisheries in Europe and North America are not directly applicable to Brazil (and likely much of South America) where industrialisation played a lesser role. Rather than technology, it was the shift from slavery to wage labour that rendered government subsidies both appealing and efficient (increased demand).

Fishing in Maranhao, N. Brazil (credits, Andre Colonese)