Minister Kassio Nunes Marques has been holding for 18 months and has not released an individual decision in which he authorized trawling off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul for judgment by the plenary of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
The release was authorized in December 2019 in a lawsuit filed by the PL, Jair Bolsonaro’s party, and was criticized by environmentalists. At the time, the president was not yet affiliated with the legend, but the acronym was already the basis of the government and the chief executive used social media to celebrate the decision of his first nominee to the court.
At the request of the party, the magistrate declared unconstitutional the state law that prohibited trawling within 12 nautical miles of the coast on the grounds that it is only up to the Union to legislate on the maritime area.
THE Sheet, Kassio’s office stated “that the action will be put on the agenda for the next semester”. The magistrate did not respond to questions about questions from environmentalists regarding the decision or the reason for the delay in releasing the case for trial.
After Kassio’s decision, the federal government announced that it would allow fishing and establish a specific policy for it. In March of this year, the Executive Secretariat of Aquaculture and Fisheries published an ordinance that authorized the resumption of activity.
Less than a month later, however, the Federal Court suspended the validity of the decree — the decision was upheld by the TRF-4 (Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region).
Although trawling has not yet resumed, environmental organizations and Rio Grande do Sul lawmakers have pressured Kassio to revoke his decision or submit it to the plenary.
The argument is that the order has generated legal uncertainty and that it is necessary for the Supreme Court to affirm in a collegiate and definitive manner that state laws of this nature do not violate the Constitution.
The activity in question is an industry practice in the sector that occurs in several countries around the world. A large net is dragged by boats across the ocean floor and picks up practically everything in that area.
Thus, in addition to the fish that are used for commercialization, others also end up being caught by the nets and, later, discarded, in most cases without life.
Fishermen in the region claim that, as the activity has been suspended for more than two years, the maritime configuration has already changed and many animals that had never been seen in the region again appeared.
The matter brought together the entire political milieu of Rio Grande do Sul. PT, Bolsonarista and all ideological hues came together to pressure Kassio to unlock the issue in court.
This is because, in most cases, trawling on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul is carried out by vessels based in Santa Catarina — that is, Rio Grande do Sul bears the environmental burden, but without the economic benefit.
In Santa Catarina, politicians have defended the decision. Shortly after Kassio’s decision, Bolsonaro posted a video on social media alongside the then special secretary for Fisheries, Jorge Seif, who will contest the state’s elections, and Senator Jorginho Mello (PL), a pre-candidate for governor.
“The decision [de Kassio] gave fishermen from Santa Catarina, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul the possibility of continuing this activity, which is very important for their existence. Migrated to Argentina [os peixes] and the loss was more than R$ 300 million per year in both harvests”, said Mello.
A group of deputies and senators from Rio Grande do Sul this month tried to set an agenda with Kassio to address the issue. The minister, however, did not receive the parliamentarians and only sent his chief of staff, Vinicius Prado, to the meeting that the politicians had with the secretary general of the STF, Pedro Felipe Santos, to address the issue.
They delivered a letter in which they make an appeal for the case to be tried by the full court and the decision, reversed.
The group asked that the decision that Minister Celso de Mello had given in the process be resumed. The PL’s action began to be processed when Mello was still in court. In 2019, he rejected the party’s request to declare state law unconstitutional.
The minister stated that the states have competence concurrent with that of the Union to legislate on issues of environmental protection.
The magistrate, however, retired from the Supreme Court and gave way to Kassio, who inherited the PL’s action. The minister, then, went against the grain of his predecessor and overturned the Rio Grande do Sul legislation on the grounds that it is only up to the Union to create laws dealing with the maritime area.
