KNOWLEDGE FLOWS IN FISH CULTURE IN THE STATE OF

Abstract

Fish culture is considered to be of great importance for the socioeconomic development of the State of Amazonas, as well as for the Amazon region as a whole, due to the existence of natural resources (ecological, biological and hydric parameters) available for the supply of local, regional, national and international markets, and also due to the fact of being an activity of world economic expression owing to the growing demand for fishmeal caused by the reduction in natural stocks. Of crucial importance for the development of such an activity, for the aggregation of value, is the generation and dissemination of knowledge necessary for an ongoing improvement in the managerial and technological capacity of the relevant companies and products. The review of the knowledge flows which circulate though these productive agents is deemed to be a useful tool for the establishment of strategies, public and private policies, capable of guiding the adequacy of undertakings to the socioeconomic environment within which they are located. Taking the concept of knowledge networks and regional spaces as reference, through a recently carried out field research, the institutional conditions were identified in terms of capacities for the generation and diffusion of the existing knowledge within the main State of Amazonas fishculture research institutions. This article discusses, firstly, the types of knowledge generated and the role of the collaborations carried out with other research institutions for the generation of such knowledge. Secondly, the pertinence of such knowledge vis-à-vis the needs of the local productive agents is analyzed. Lastly, the liaison strategies and mechanisms which make possible the establishment of collaboration for the transfer of such knowledge to the productive agents are studied.