“Fishing Down the Food Web”: A Case Study from St. Augustine, Florida, USA

Abstract

Comparing zooarchaeological data for Native American, Spanish, and British occupations with modern fisheries data from St. Johns County, Florida (USA) shows differences in the use of marine resources from 1450 B.C. through A.D. 2000. Changes in biomass contribution, diversity, types of fishes used, and trophic levels of sharks, rays, and bony fishes suggest that the pattern described as “fishing down marine food webs” (Pauly et al. 1998) may have been present in the St. Johns County area as early as the eighteenth century. A change in the size and growth habits of Atlantic croaker (Sciaenidae: Micropogonias undulatus) occurred early in this sequence, indicating an impact on this specific fish. However, overharvesting of fishes is not the only explanation for these observations. Climate and cultural changes are additional explanations for the patterns observed that should receive closer attention. Exploring these alternative explanations is made possible by a zooarchaeological record that permits us to study fishing habits and fish behavior before large-scale industrial fishing began.

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“…A quarter of all the fish taxa present in Georgia Bight archaeological collections is present in over 60% of the collections, regardless of whether the site is an Archaic shell ring or a 17th-century Spanish mission. This suggests that the kinds of fish, though perhaps not the technology, have been little altered over the centuries, regardless of the cultural matrix of which fishing was but one aspect (Reitz, 2004). This is not to suggest that there were no changes either in the resource base or in the cultural use of that base; we know that there were.…”

“…Neither are they likely to be depleted within an annual cycle to such an extent that it would stimulate residential mobility because the fishery is renewed with each tidal cycle. It is entirely possible that the fishery could be, and was, depressed by overfishing or other drivers of long-term environmental change from time to time (e.g., Reitz, 2004;Quitmyer and Reitz, 2006;Reitz, Quitmyer, and Marrinan, 2009), but the broad features of the core fishing strategy persisted, nonetheless. A similar conclusion is reported for other fisheries (Butler and Campbell, 2004).…”

“…Routine ecological processes (e.g., competition, predation, community transformations) alter the composition and physical location of populations and communities. All of these processes can occur without human intervention; but it is likely that the structure and productivity of estuaries in the Georgia Bight have been impacted by human fishing strategies for millennia (Reitz, 2004).…”

Beyond Depression? A Review of the Optimal Foraging Theory Literature in Zooarchaeology and Archaeobotany

“…Finally, the relationship between foraging theory and niche construction in the literature is not merely one of conflict; indeed, as several of the articles cited earlier in this discussion show, many authors find these to be compatible approaches (e.g., Broughton et al 2010;Piperno et al 2017;Stiner and Kuhn 2016). Historical ecology, resilience, and sustainability, similarly, are non-optimality-based approaches used by researchers who also use foraging theory (see discussions in Giovas 2016;Redman 2005;Reitz 2004;Reitz et al 2009). To what degree are hybrid approaches increasing in the literature?…”

Reconstructing the History and the Effects of Mechanization in a Small-Scale Fishery of Flores, Eastern Indonesia (1917–2014)

“…However, by 1993, the number of boats and landings declined almost 30% suggesting a reduction of fish stocks. Evidence from reconstructions and interviews suggests as signs of overfishing or overexploitation (Reitz, 2004;Carder et al, 2007). It is also in 1992 that Flores suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami that may also account for the changes in effort.…”