Amazon fishing communities guard giant fish from poachers, but conservation work takes heavy personal toll

Along Brazil’s winding Juruá River, families of fishers are taking conservation into their own hands, standing guard over oxbow lakes to protect the Amazon’s largest freshwater fish from illegal harvesting. From wooden watchtowers perched above the water, community members keep watch for poachers targeting pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), a massive fish species that serves as both a crucial food source and economic lifeline for local families.

The Juruá River, known as the most serpentine waterway in the Amazon Basin, creates numerous stagnant oxbow lakes as it meanders through floodplains. These lakes have become battlegrounds between local communities and outside poachers seeking to illegally harvest the valuable pirarucu, which can grow over 400 pounds and fetch high prices in markets.

A new study published in Nature Sustainability reveals that while these community-led conservation efforts successfully protect not only the pirarucu but entire ecosystems connecting floodplains and uplands, they come with significant personal costs. The volunteer guards confiscate poaching equipment, report illegal activities to authorities, and limit outside access to protected areas—all while covering their own surveillance expenses, spending days away from paying work, and risking dangerous confrontations with armed poachers.

This community-based conservation model demonstrates how local knowledge and collective action can achieve broader environmental protection beyond single species. However, researchers emphasize that the financial and personal sacrifices required from unpaid community guards highlight the need for better support systems to sustain these grassroots conservation efforts long-term.