Our Team

Project Piaba is excited to share that during its February expedition to the Rio Negro, we successfully verified Igarapé Puxirituba and piabero Deco for a new traceability program. Our goal is to launch a pilot of this program in Europe by late 2026 or early 2027. 

Deco is the second fully verified piabero in the program. Over the past several years, 80 piaberos and piaberas have completed training in best handling practices, and partner exporters have been trained in pre-shipment conditioning protocols which includes resting the fish, providing optimal nutrition, and slowly conditioning them from the more acidic black water of their native stream to more neutral water (6.5 – 7 pH). 

The goal of the new verification initiative aims to trace Geographically Indicated Rio Negro cardinal tetras, and other aquarium fish species from stream to store. Project Piaba believes the story behind these fish matters. The traditional fishers of the Rio Negro are helping protect their rainforest home through a sustainable aquarium fishery that supports their livelihoods, and this story resonates with people who care about aquarium fish and conservation.  

Last year, Project Piaba successfully piloted the verification system in the U.S. through successful tracing of fish collected by verified piabero Adelson from Igarapé Bariri through every step of the supply chain using QR codes and strict handling protocols.   

While there is still much more work to do before this program is ready to launch, Project Piaba is encouraged by the progress being made and looks forward to sharing more updates soon. 

A labor strike by Brazil’s federal agency for environmental protection, enforcement and regulation (IBAMA) in 2024 halted exports of Rio Negro aquarium fish for nearly a year. This was a devastating blow to the aquarium fishers of the Rio Negro, whose livelihoods depend upon this fishery. During that time many U.S. aquarium fish importers shifted away from environmentally and socioeconomically beneficial wild aquarium fish to more easily sourced farmed fish from Asia. Project Piaba is advocating for the re-establishment of U.S. imports and working hard behind the scenes in Brazil to navigate bureaucratic channels that continue to make the permitting process inefficient. We’ve heard promising updates from IBAMA about increasing the number of field agents which will hopefully help reduce delays, but there are no new established timelines for creating greater efficiences so for the time-being, importers are dealing with several weeks of permit paperwork delays. Additionally, the IBAMA office in Manaus remains closed, requiring all live fish exports be flown to Sao Paulo for inspection before export internationally. This adds shipping time to all exports. 

In November 2025, Project Piaba was awarded the “Sustainability Contribution Award” at the 29th China International Pet Show. This accolade honors outstanding enterprises in the global sustainability landscape that have not only achieved their own sustainable transformation but have also set benchmarks for the entire industry through exemplary practices, driving substantive progress. 

Increasing sustainability in the pet industry is a growing area of interest and opportunity.  During this event, the “Green Pawprints, Cherishing Earth” initiative gathered sustainability efforts that not only demonstrated the active exploration of the pet and aquatic industries in sustainable development but also injected fresh momentum into future ecological transformation. It is our hope that  these sustainable concepts and technologies will take root rapidly, guiding the industry toward a more responsible and resilient future. 

It’s Project Piaba’s goal to highlight how sustainable, socioeconomically responsible aquarium fisheries support rainforest protection.