Fishermen Ecological Knowledge and Complex Adaptive Systems: An Interpretative Model for Small-Scale Fisheries

Abstract

The fishermen ecological knowledge (FEK) encompasses information on biology of species and climatic and oceanographic changes, all related with schools of fish and its capture. It incorporates a complex set of codes and signs, which are constantly updated and transmitted orally thorough generations. In this sense, FEK presents characteristics such as diversity and ability to learn from experience, which are in conformity with the definition of a complex adaptive system (CAS). Based on this assumption, this work proposes to structure and interpret FEK as a CAS. It is supported that such approach can promote the exchange of information among areas, which are other way considered incommensurable (anthropology, oceanography, marine biology, meteorology etc.), and also among formal sciences and the FEK. However, CAS is a structure designed with heuristic goals associated with mathematical modeling what is beyond the aims of this work, which uses CAS only as a structuring metaphor.

Scomberomorus brasiliensis (Scombridae) fishery on southern and southeastern coast of Brazil

“…Artisanal fishery has great importance because of its contribution to the maintenance of livelihoods, food security and production, and because of the number of fishermen involved (Pauly 2006, Salas et al 2007, Begossi 2014, Loto et al 2019. The fishery for S. brasiliensis is mainly artisanal and is similar in the states studied here.…”

Viver Do Mar - Caracterização Socioeconómica Das Comunidades Piscatórias De Arte Xávega Em Portugal

“…Assim, é necessário considerar tantos fatores exógenos (regulamentação, alterações climáticas, turismo, políticas culturais), como fatores endógenos à própria arte (aleatoriedade das capturas, envelhecimento dos pescadores, comercialização, aumento dos custos com a atualização das embarcações, a gestão e a transmissão dos saberes tradicionais). Isto é, será importante considerar a relevância das interações culturais e socioambientais, como por exemplo o papel dos conhecimentos locais ecológicos e tradicionais dos pescadores na coprodução dos serviços dos ecossistemas marinhos (Farr et al, 2018;Outeiro et al, 2017;Rodrigues et al, 2017), bem como na preservação dos recursos naturais e da atividade piscatória artesanal (Loto et al, 2019;Pita et al, 2016). Mas, também, as características socioeconómicas das comunidades piscatórias e as relações que criam com o contexto socioecológico envolvente.…”