This study was conducted at the quilombola communities of Cacau and Terra Amarela, municipality of Colares, Pará State, Brazil. The objective was to describe and analyze the exploitation of the land crab, or mangrove crab (Ucides cordadus), in terms of some socioeconomic aspects, their techniques, strategies and areas of production adopted, and their forms of crab trade. And to compare these aspects with those from other traditional populations also dedicated to the same extractive activity. Semi-open questionnaires, direct observation in the field and trade and flowchart, were techniques applied in this research during 2013. In the communities studied, the extractive economy is predominant, and mangrove crab extraction is among the main activities. At Cacau and Terra Amarela, households have in average 4.3 and 4.9 members, respectively. Most of the families live in their own brickwork houses, built with conventional materials. Despite of this, these extractive households are poor and live in difficult conditions, with almost no access to public services. In general, the inhabitants stop attending school early in their lives, and most of them (72 to 82%) failed to complete the elementary school cycle. A low monthly household income was recorded; the majority of the households earn less than one minimum salary per month. The laço and the braceamento are the main techniques for obtaining the resource. The technique of braceamento is performed during the four days of work per week in average during the rainy months. The application of laço is performed in average during twelve days per month during the drought months. Cacau produces in average 52 (SD ± 15) crabs / work day / person and 110 (SD ± 56) crabs / work day / person in in the rainy and drought periods, respectively. In the Terra Amarela community these averages are 56 (SD ± 24) crabs / day / person and 150 (SD ± 72) crabs / day/ person. The inhabitants of these communities trade with intermediaries from the region. The crabs are sold in natura, whole and alive, transported in cofos in Cacau and bags in Terra Amarela. Are traded at prices that fluctuate throughout the year, from R$ 40.00 to R$ 80.00 each group of 100 individuals. The low pay for they work, together with low education level, deficiencies in infrastructure, low technology for production, and lack of local provision of public services are some of the aspects contributing to the low quality of life of these families in the communities. These factors also contribute for the maintenance of the engagement of local inhabitants in low value activities, such as the extraction of mangrove crabs. The conditions described for Cacau and Terra Amarela are quite similar to those observed in other traditional communities living and working in similar conditions in the coastal region of Pará State, Brazil. The extraction and trade are very similar to most of the traditional communities that exploit this resource in mangroves forests along the coast of Pará. No significant differences or peculiarities were observed in the extractive activity of these quilombola communities, in relation to other traditional populations performing this same activity in the area. However, differences were found between the two communities studied, which represent variations of this general pattern identified. Probably these differences are related to the technologies adopted, and also on the amount of crabs captured in the two locations. These impact the costs of the activity, its profitability, and the quality of life of inhabitants of Cacau and Terra Amarela.
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