Photo: The expedition team heads up the Bariri River in a remote area of the Brazilian rainforest.
Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan is the university’s associate attending veterinarian for aquatics, providing support and animal caretaking expertise for researchers studying fish and other aquatic species throughout OSU. He’s also an assistant professor in the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine. He travels to the Amazon every year to work with Project Piaba, a nonprofit devoted to improving the sustainability and handling practices of the aquarium fish trade.
Where were you working?
In Brazil. We start in Manaus in the state of Amazonas, but we go 400-500 miles upriver on the Rio Negro.
What languages are spoken there?
Portuguese; there are Indigenous languages too but pretty much everyone we work with speaks Portuguese.
What is the focus of your work?
The overall project is to support the aquarium fishery and show that collecting fish from the Rio Negro to sell in the pet trade is a sustainable fishery, and to show how that sustainable fishery is a way to protect the river and associated rainforest. These communities understand that because their fish come out of these little tributaries, if logging or mining operations go in there, that’s going to negatively impact the fishing grounds.
The most famous fish from this area is the cardinal tetra, but there are over 700 species that have the potential to be harvested for the freshwater fish trade. These fish spawn in the highwater in the jungle, and then when the water level starts to go down, they get concentrated in pools and areas of the river where they can’t move. So, the fish that are being harvested are fish that might otherwise die as the water level keeps dropping, and the fisher communities there have not seen drops in the overall population.
I’ve worked on examining the chain of custody and how the fish are handled from the time they’re collected in the jungle, to the time they arrive at the export facility in Manaus, to find practices that could be changed to improve the overall health, welfare and quality of the fish. In 2014-15, I started a kind of “train the trainer” project, working with people in Brazil that functioned almost like OSU Extension agents, who we trained to work with the fishers and the transit stations to improve overall animal care.
Students processing fish samples on board the Iracema, the vessel carrying the research team up the Rio Negro.
How much time have you spent there?
This most recent trip, I went Jan. 23 and got back Feb. 10; that was my ninth trip. Before COVID, I was going every year, but my last trip before this one was 2020.
Who are your closest local colleagues?
There’s an American Project Piaba that’s closely associated with the Brazilian Proyecto Piaba. There are four people from the project down there that I’ve worked with closely since my first trip in 2013.
What’s the biggest challenge of working there?
I’m from the Northwest, so getting used to the climate is a challenge. But more than that, I think the biggest challenge is how nothing happens fast. That’s not unique to Brazil; I’ve worked in a lot of other countries. It just takes a long time to get things done, so you have to be patient.
What’s the best food you ate there?
That’s a tough one. There’s a fish called tambaqui or black pacu that I’ve had prepared a number of ways, and I’ve loved it every time.
What’s the coolest thing a local has shown you?
This most recent trip, we went to this amazing little river, the Bariri – the most beautiful spot I’ve ever been in Brazil. It took us 14 hours from Barcelos by boat to get to the mouth of the river, and then another two hours up to get to where these fishers fish. These two guys have a little cabin where they’ve been fishing for 40 years, and it was just teeming with fish. It was like snorkeling in an aquarium.
The Bariri River, a tributary of the Rio Negro.
What’s a useful phrase you’ve learned in the local language?
For me, it’s always “thank you” – “obrigado” in Brazil. That’s a word you’ve got to know whatever country you’re in.
What’s something from your experience that you take back to Oregon with you?
Knowing that the concerns of fishers in Brazil are very similar to the concerns of fishers in Oregon; it’s just that they have different equipment. They’re concerned about regulations, the market price of their fish, accruing debt, that sort of thing.
What were you most surprised to learn?
I don’t know if it surprised me, but it really hit home when we went up this little river just how remote it is. I’ve always known it was remote, but that really hit me – we had traveled 14 hours and not really seen anything in terms of civilization. I found that to be really cool, that there are still places like that.
Besides family, what do you most miss from home?
Mountains. When I’m flying home, and I see the Cascades, that’s like – I miss that view.
What piece of advice would you give others who might travel there?
Practical: Drink lots of water, carry sunscreen and wear a hat. And then, learn as much as you can about the area, about the country and its customs. I never want to offend people; I want to learn.
