The New England Aquarium would like to share with you a special opportunity to travel with Project Piaba to the heart of the Amazon, Brazil’s Rio Negro. Project Piaba is a community-based program organized by one of our talented aquarist, Scott Dowd. While not affiliated with the Aquarium, participants will have the opportunity to learn more about this unique freshwater ecosystem from one of our knowledgable aquarists!

Canoe ride on the Rio Negro

This expedition will be part of Project Piaba's long term study on the Amazon fishery for the global home aquarium fish trade. It will take place on January 24 to February 7, 2015. Participants will fly from Miami to Manaus, the capitol of the state of Amazonas (airfare not included in the $2500 trip fee). From there, you will board a very well-equipped Amazon river boat and travel up river, exploring the amazing diversity of the Amazon and encountering macaws, Amazon river dolphins, giant river otters, hundreds of fishes and even waking to the sound of howler monkeys.

You will also experience the annual Ornamental Fish Festival of Barcelos, the Amazonian version of the famous Brazilian Carnival. Teams are led by Project Piaba director and Aquarium biologist Scott Dowd, who has been exploring and studying this region for more than 20 years. You will be joined by other international specialists, Project Piaba’s Brazilian colleagues, experienced river guides and local fishers, who will share their knowledge of the area and its culture. You will be part of a long-term project, working to maximize the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of this fishery to the region.

Live-aboard Amazon riverboat

"Buy a Fish, Save a Tree"

Project Piaba was established to foster an environmentally and socially beneficial ornamental fish trade. The mission statement of Project Piaba is to increase the environmental, animal welfare, and social sustainability of the Amazonian aquarium fish trade, to develop and incorporate metrics through which this progress can be assessed, and to provide mechanisms to promote this industry. When communities thrive selling fish for the aquarium trade, local people protect the resource that sustains them. Project Piaba fosters the sustainable trade in wild-caught aquarium fish, encouraging people to safeguard both rivers and forests--and all the creatures they harbor.

Cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), the keystone species of the Barcelos fishery

The ornamental fishery in the Rio Negro is centered around the cardinal tetra. This Brazilian fishery has been in operation since the 1950s, but is now competing on the world market with cardinal tetras being farmed in other countries.  Without a thriving wild-capture fishery,  the economic base for the Rio Negro communities would be destroyed, and would open up a vast area of rainforest to the destructive practices of mining, forestry, and agriculture. The Project Piaba team is working with fishing communities and industry stakeholders to maximize socioeconomic and environmental benefits of the fishery.

When communities thrive by selling fish for the aquarium trade, local people protect the resource that sustains them. Project Piaba fosters the sustainable trade in wild-caught aquarium fish, encouraging people to safeguard both rivers and forests--and all the creatures they harbor.

Here's the trip at a glance:

• 2 weeks on a well appointed live-aboard boat
• Visit biological hotspots and fishing communities
• English speaking guides
• Participate in the Ornamental Fish Festival of Barcelos
• Visit ornamental fish export facilities

Learn more about Project Piaba in Discover Magazine. For more details about the trip, see Project Piaba’s Facebook page. You may also contact Scott Dowd directly via email or by calling 617-973-5243.


Look for some of the beautiful fish from the Amazon in the Aquarium's freshwater exhibits. Meet these new kids on the freshwater block! And learn about some more local projects involving Scott Dowd.