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Fishers and small-scale fisheries worldwide have been marginalized historically. Now it is clear that integrating fishers in management processes is key to resource conservation, but it is less clear how to do it. Here, based on a literature review and new information, we present and analyze a case in which the participation of fishers in the management process was crucial in recovering an overexploited small-scale fishery for the pirarucu (Arapaima spp.) in the Amazon Basin, Brazil. In 8 years of experimental management, from 1999 to 2006, the population of pirarucu increased 9-fold (from about 2200 to 20,650 individuals), harvest quotas increased 10-fold (from 120 to 1249 individuals), and fishers' participation in the management process increased and they benefited from increased monetary returns. Additionally, the number of communities conducting the management scheme increased from 4 in 1999 to 108 in 2006, following the demands of fishers and regional government agencies. Based on our analysis, we suggest that the participation of fishers in the management of other small-scale fisheries in the world can be improved by focusing on (1) applying the knowledge and skills of fishers in resource monitoring and management, (2) bridging knowledge systems among all involved stakeholders, (3) collaborating with fishers that are interested in, and capable of conducting, resource conservation schemes, and (4) conducting management under conditions of uncertainty.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Ecological Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Ecology.Abstract. Among iguanian lizards, males are often larger than females. As a result, much attention has been directed toward understanding the evolution of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in this group. SSD can result from a number of developmental, physiological, and demographic processes, which may cause sex differences in growth trajectories, timing of maturity, and adult age distributions. Knowledge of these proximate mechanisms can improve our understanding of the evolution of SSD. Only recently, however, have efforts been directed toward understanding proximate mechanisms. I examined the proximate causes of SSD in a population of a South American iguanian lizard, Microlophus occipitalis. The majority of the SSD in this population resulted from continued postmaturity growth in males and reduced postmaturity growth in females. Additionally, adult males tended to live longer than females, which affected adult age and size distributions. The proportion of young individuals in samples had strong effects on temporal fluctuations in SSD in the population. I discuss the importance of studying proximate mechanisms for evolutionary analyses of SSD in organisms that continue to grow after reaching maturity.

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