Commercial fishing in Brazil is estimated at 700,000 tons a year. Of this, about 220,000 tons comes from fish caught in rivers and lakes (IBAMA, 1996). Freshwater fishing has contributed significantly to the informal economy, and for many it is, if not the only one, then the main source of income. It is also from the sale of surplus fish that river dwellers, that make a living from fishing and subsistence agriculture, are able to acquire consumer goods. In some regions, fishing is the main source of proteins for these populations. In the Amazon hydrographic region, 70% of all fish are caught through subsistence fishing.

Brazil has many factors in its favor in terms of aquaculture development in its many modes, e.g., an enormous water potential (rivers, lakes and reservoirs), a great diversity of native aquatic species climatized to the environmental conditions of the country, unfulfilled demand, domestically and abroad, available infrastructure (research centers and aquaculture stations), appropriate climate and areas.

However, aquaculture on inland waters is still incipient in some regions of the country (Amazon and Tocantins hydrographic regions), but it is already significant in the Western Northeast and Eastern Northeast, Southeast and South Coastal hydrographic regions, particularly in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina.