Perceptions of artisanal fishers on the impacts of dredging in the port of Santos: environmental justice and epistemologies of the sea

Abstract

This article analyzes the perceptions of artisanal fishers regarding the impacts of periodic dredging operations carried out over the past ten years in the Santos estuary, examined through the lenses of environmental justice and epistemologies of the sea. The study departs from the hypothesis that recurrent technical interventions produce integrated socioecological effects, simultaneously affecting ecosystem services, livelihoods, and the institutional recognition of traditional knowledge. The research adopted a qualitative interpretive approach, with structured interviews conducted among 50 fishers directly affected by these operations. For the analytical organization of data, the MESMIS method was applied in an adaptive perspective, structuring indicators across environmental, economic, and social-governance dimensions. The results indicated a high degree of perceived socioecological vulnerability, with an overall Relative Sustainability Index of 4.7 (0–5), evidencing structural convergence among ecological degradation, economic instability, and institutional fragility. The study concludes that dredging operations are perceived as cumulative processes that articulate distributive inequalities, participatory constraints, and epistemological marginalization in the coastal governance of Latin America's largest port complex.