Fishermen's local ecological knowledge on Southeastern Brazilian coastal fishes: contributions to research, conservation, and management

Abstract

We analyzed fishermen's local ecological knowledge (LEK) about the feeding habits, trophic interactions, habitats, fishing grounds, migration, and reproduction of nine coastal fishes in Búzios Island, southeastern Brazilian coast. We interviewed 39 fishermen using standardized questionnaires. Fishermen's LEK on habitat use and trophic interactions for the studied fishes agreed with the scientific literature, allowing the organization of reef and pelagic food webs. The interviewed fishermen mentioned that submerged rock formations would be important habitats for some large commercial fishes, such as Seriola spp., Caranx latus and Epinephelus marginatus. In some instances there was no scientific data to be compared with fishermen's LEK, and thus this kind of knowledge would be the only available source of information, such as for reproduction and migration of most of the studied fishes. We suggest herein ways to apply fishermen's LEK to develop and improve fisheries management measures, such as zoning of marine space, marine protected areas, and closed fishing seasons. Fishermen's LEK may be an important and feasible support to fisheries management and co-management.Analisamos o conhecimento ecológico local (CEL) dos pescadores sobre os hábitos alimentares, interações tróficas, habitats, locais de pesca, migração e reprodução de nove peixes costeiros na Ilha de Búzios, litoral sudeste do Brasil. Entrevistamos 39 pescadores, utilizando questionários padronizados. As informações sobre uso do habitat e interações tróficas entre os peixes estudados com base no CEL dos pescadores foram condizentes com a literatura científica, permitindo a organização de teias tróficas para os habitats recifal e pelágico. Os pescadores entrevistados mencionaram que formações de rochas submersas seriam habitats importantes para alguns peixes comerciais de grande porte, como Seriola spp., Caranx latus e Epinephelus marginatus. Em algumas circunstâncias, não haviam dados biológicos para serem comparados com o CEL dos pescadores, que, portanto seria a única fonte disponível de informação, por exemplo sobre a reprodução e migração de vários dos peixes estudados. Sugerimos aqui formas de aplicar o CEL dos pescadores para desenvolver e aprimorar medidas de manejo pesqueiro, como zoneamento do espaço marinho, áreas marinhas protegidas e épocas de defeso da pesca. O CEL dos pescadores pode ser um apoio importante e factível para iniciativas de manejo e co-manejo pesqueiro.

Environmental perception of fishermen: use and conservation of fisheries resources

“…According to Silvano and Begossi (2012), there is an accumulation of knowledge with the passing years, so that older people tend to know more about matters of interest to the community, and are considered the most suitable because of that knowledge.…”

Tracking the invasion of Hemiramphus far and Saurida undosquamis along the southern Mediterranean coasts: A Local Ecological Knowledge study

“…Moreover the perceived changes in species abundance can be clearly influenced by fishing methods and equipment. Beside the above-mentioned limitations, information reported by fishermen can be evaluated for both reliability (sincerity) and accuracy, that is the degree to which the provided information is near to reality (Silvano & Begossi, 2012). In the present study, interviews can be considered as highly reliable since the extracted information was really based on their daily fishing practices and because of the spontaneous curiosity of many of the respondents.…”

“…Anadón et al, 2009) and to investigate the ecological traits and historical trends of a diverse array of marine organisms (e.g. Rosa et al, 2014;Silvano & Begossi, 2012). Recently LEK has been applied to the reconstruction of geographical and historical trends of some Mediterranean fishes (Azzurro et al, 2011;Maynou et al, 2011) and its use is considered to be particularly helpful in data-poor coastal ecosystems (Beaudreau & Levin, 2014), like the southern Mediterranean.…”

Transboundary Socio-Ecological Effects of a Marine Protected Area in the Southwest Atlantic

“…This is not an easy step in a region marked by animosity between the governmental environmental agencies and fishing communities, but efforts such as a temporary agreement allowing limited fishing and anchoring in some of the islands have been made toward a greater interaction among all the parts . If the chosen islands are not the most relevant to increase fish abundance and to improve fisheries, the MPA could eventually change the islands to be protected, with the support of fishers on the choice of new areas (Le Fur et al 2011;Silvano and Begossi 2012). Fixing the problems of an old coastal MPA could help turn other problematic coastal MPAs into functional ones and establish new ones based on collaborative and trustworthy interactions among managers, fishers, and other stakeholders.…”