Brazilian fishermen use mobile app to expose oil spills and pollution: Video
Once a thriving nursery for marine life, Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay is now facing severe ecological decline.
The bay has been plagued by relentless oil spills, chemical discharges, and the dumping of thousands of litres of untreated sewage.
Alexandre Anderson along with other local fishermen, are taking the fight into their own hands by using technology to document these environmental crimes and hold polluters accountable.
The "De Olho na Guanabara" platform, also known as "Eye on Guanabara," was developed by the fishermen’s association Ahomar in partnership with the NGO 350.org. The app has become an essential tool for monitoring violations like oil spills, illegal ballast discharge, chemical contamination, and untreated water released from ships, according to AFP reports.
Anderson, steering his boat with one hand while filming an oil slick spreading across the bay with the other, regularly uploads such footage to the app, exposing the ongoing environmental destruction.
"They are definitely using a chemical product to wash the ship's bulkheads. This must be ballast water. They were going to dispose of that water and then proceed to do a wash," Anderson explains as he records the damage. He adds, "Not only do fishermen today have this tool for fighting, defending, and protecting the environment, but now the entire society has this tool available."
The app’s impact extends beyond public awareness. "The Eye on Guanabara app allows the public agency, which is already using the equipment and was present at the launch, to issue fines directly from their office. This is very important," Anderson said.
Guanabara Bay, spanning 400 square kilometres (154 square miles), is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site but also one of the most polluted coastal ecosystems globally, highlighting the urgent need for such grassroots efforts to protect what remains of its biodiversity.
Paulo Barone, President of the Fishermen’s Association of the Paquetá Archipelago, explained the significance of the initiative. "There is a lot of degradation, a lot of disrespect from the offshore companies, those gas and oil companies. We hope that with this tool, this will decrease a bit because we suffer from all kinds of environmental aggression here," Barone said.
