Socio-environmental associations asked this Monday (June 29, 2026) that the Federal Supreme Court declare the unconstitutionality of Mato Grosso’s fishing law, known as Cota Zero.
The petition, to which the Poder360 had access, was presented in ADIs (Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality) 7,471 and 7,514, reported by the minister. According to the document, federal bodies that spoke out in the process defended the unconstitutionality of the rule, including the DPU (Union Public Defender’s Office), the Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Attorney General’s Office, the MMA (Ministry of the Environment) and Ibama. Read (PDF — 434 kB).
The manifestation is signed by the Gaia Institute, the Centro de Vida Institute, the Fonasc-CBH (National Forum of Civil Society in Watershed Management) and the Formad (Popular Socio-Environmental Forum of Mato Grosso). Entities act in the process as friends of the court (“friends of the Court”), category of participants admitted to provide technical information to the court.
In an interview with Poder360, WWF-Brazil infrastructure specialist, Silvia Zanatta, stated that the case brings together environmental, economic and social aspects. According to her, the organization decided to act in the process because it understands that the law, although presented as an environmental protection measure, does not address the main pressure factors on rivers.
“There is an inversion of cause and effect. Overfishing is not produced by fishermen. Fishermen are harmed by possible overfishing”these.
ZERO QUOTE
State laws 12,197, of 2023, and 12,434, of 2024, restricted the capture, transportation, storage and sale of fish in Mato Grosso.
The legislation was sent to the Legislative Assembly by the then governor Mauro Mendes (União Brasil), investigated by the Superior Court of Justice on suspicion of involvement in a payroll credit scheme linked to Banco Master.
Initially, the measure was presented as a way to strengthen environmental protection and recover fishing stocks. The associations, however, claim that the information sent by the government to the STF does not prove this objective.
According to the petition, the data presented by Sema-MT (Secretariat of State for the Environment) deal with inspections, fines and seizures, but do not demonstrate a relationship between restrictions on artisanal fishing and the eventual recovery of aquatic biodiversity.
For Zanatta, there is a lack of basic indicators to assess whether there has been an environmental improvement since the law came into force.
“How can you carry out a stock recovery analysis if you don’t even have the data, the first parameters? You can’t say whether it increased or decreased, because you don’t have the analysis basis”he stated.
ARTISANAL FISHING X TOURISM
According to the petition, Sema-MT highlighted projects aimed at fishing tourism, an activity that involves inns, guides, boat rentals, bait sales, accommodation and other services.
Environmental projects aimed at artisanal fishing, practiced by riverside communities, appear as proposals that have not yet been implemented.
For Zanatta, this demonstrates a movement to encourage fishing tourism to the detriment of artisanal fishing.
According to her, WWF is against the law because it understands that the standard was presented as an environmental measure, but failed to address factors such as dams, deforestation, use of pesticides, fires and disorderly occupation.
“We, as a conservation NGO, are taking a stand against a fictitious protection law”these.
REFISHING
In 2024, the government of Mato Grosso launched the Repesca program to provide financial assistance of a minimum wage to artisanal fishermen affected by Cota Zero.
That year, 19 fishermen received the benefit. In 2025, the number rose to 2,172. According to the petition, 12,452 fishermen have not yet received aid, equivalent to 83% of the category.
The organizations claim that the compensation was insufficient to reduce the economic and social impacts of the restriction on artisanal fishing. They also criticize the training courses offered by the State, which only served 35 people — less than 0.3% of the estimated population of fishermen.
According to the document, the minimum education requirement made access difficult for part of the category.
ACTIVITY REPRESENTS 44% OF GDP
The survey states that fishing activity generates around R$889 million per year in the region, equivalent to 44% of the average annual GDP of the municipalities analyzed. Of this total, professional artisanal fishing accounts for R$102.7 million annually, of which R$59 million comes from direct fish sales.
The study also estimates that the law could generate a social cost of R$187 million per year in Mato Grosso.
According to WWF, the report used to support the change in legislation reverses the cause and effect relationship by attributing the reduction in stocks to artisanal fishing.
“We are trying to raise the level of discussion. We are not just talking about people’s loss of identity, we are not just talking about the psychological suffering imposed by this law. We are now talking in a language that may be of more interest, which is financial loss”said Zanatta.
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
According to the study, the fragmentation of habitats caused by dams causes annual losses estimated between R$152.9 million and R$198.1 million for fishing in the Upper Paraguay Basin.
Zanatta stated that small hydroelectric plants are among the main factors of concern because they make it difficult for fish to migrate to breeding areas.
“If the fish that spawns at the head of a river has to face 5 PCHs to get there, it won’t get there again. So you’re going to be compromised”these.
According to the expert, these impacts could be worsened by and by the water crisis in the Pantanal.
OTHER SIDE
O Can contacted the government of Mato Grosso and the State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (June 23, 2026), by email, to ask for a position on the points raised in the petition and in the WWF-Brazil technical note. There was no response until the publication of this text. The space remains open for demonstrations.
