How did Belo Monte become sustainable? Weightings based on the study of the fisheries controversy in the Altamira/PA region

Abstract

This article maps and discusses the controversy in the fishing generated by the disturbances in the Xingu River due to the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant. The changes in local fisheries, far from being consensual, were captured through mapping the fisheries controversy in the region, observing and conducting interviews. The category of techno-scientific controversy is used to show how the claims in the techno-scientific realm are formulated, disputed and closed not based on scientific consensus, but with the help of a support network built by humans (fishermen, indigenous people, researchers) and non-humans (fish, reports, financing, agreements) that has more influence over the others. The research pointed out that the suspension of the controversy in question aggravates environmental conflicts, since there are different environmental versions about the Xingu River, apprehended by science, but which are ignored within the scope of legitimization of the impacts of the work. The study concludes that the controversy is forcibly ended with the political demarcation “Belo Monte is sustainable”, which acts with the help of scientific guidelines favoring large-scale studies of the river, supported by the network of the action program that builds the Plant.