Local knowledge and training towards management

Abstract

The urgency of managing marine resources is based on the fact that half of the world stocks are fully exploited, excluding those stocks that are already depleted. Artisanal fisheries in Brazil, both inland and coastal, are responsible for about half of the country's catches. Therefore, management of local artisanal fisheries is a necessity that provides an additional benefit, considering the observation that decentralization and the use of local ecological knowledge (LEK) in management have given better results than centralized, top-down management. In this study, a third system of knowledge-based on practice and training-is built from the local and scientific systems of knowledge, and a method to accomplish practical steps in local management is shown. Four elements are considered for the process of linking systems towards management: (1) an understanding of the natural environment of the fishery and on the use of natural resources by locals; (2) the knowledge of the marine area used by fishers, i.e., location of fishing spots for each species; (3) the understanding of fisher behavior, e.g., using tools from optimal foraging theory; and (4) the knowledge fishers have of the biology and ecology of species and their LEK, based on studies of the ethnobiology, ethnoecology, and ethnotaxonomy of fish. Considering the availability of publications on topics 1 and 2, illustrative cases are shown using optimal foraging models in Itaipu Beach, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo Bagre, Cananéia, São Paulo, and using common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, as an example for a target species. Finally, local programs including training courses using both scientific and local knowledge are proposed within coastal artisanal fisheries.

Assessing Changes in Fisheries Using Fishers’ Knowledge to Generate Long Time Series of Catch Rates: a Case Study from the Red Sea

“…There are studies, however, that have used interviews simultaneously with other methods to assess fisheries. Some of the researchers, when studying the same fisheries, found similar trends and reached similar or complementary conclusions (e.g., Neis et al 1999, Otero et al 2005, Begossi 2008, Lozano-Montes et al 2008. However, others generated mixed results; that is, there were similarities in some indices and not in others (Ainsworth and Pitcher 2005, Daw 2008, Silvano and Valbo-Jørgensen 2008.…”

A method for assessing fishers’ ecological knowledge as a practical tool for ecosystem-based fisheries management: Seeking consensus in Southeastern Brazil

“…The incorporation of LEK/FEK and fishers' participation in management plans are also important in order to decentralize government and institutional power, reduce conflicts between fishers and governmental institutions, promote community development and empowerment, and support enforcement, helping to ensure representativeness of local actors in the public policy arena (Begossi, 2008;Garcia and Charles, 2008;Gasalla, 2011;Lam and Pauly, 2010). Furthermore, in traditional fisheries management, purely biological objectives may be imposed in a top-down manner, without considering fishers' livelihoods.…”

“…In this sense, fishers' experience-based knowledge about marine ecosystems and resources are of great value for fisheries management (Hill et al, 2010). However, while recognition of the value and significance of studies on local ecological knowledge (LEK) or fishers' ecological knowledge (FEK) has increased in recent decades (Allison and Badjeck, 2004;Begossi, 2008;Berkes et al, 2001;Drew, 2005;Gasalla, 2004;Johannes, 1998;Johannes et al, 2000;Neis et al, 1999;Wilson et al, 2006), resource-dependent communities have often remained politically, culturally and socioeconomically marginalized (Brook and McLachlan., 2005;Lam and Borch, 2011) such that these studies findings have rarely been used for practical application in management, especially in ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) (Gasalla and Diegues, 2011;Gasalla and Tutui, 2006).…”

Fishers' knowledge identifies environmental changes and fish abundance trends in impounded tropical rivers

“…Human populations have detailed local ecological knowledge (LEK) about the spatial distribution, biology (reproduction, diet), migratory behavior, temporal trends in abundance, extinction risk, vulnerability to exploitation, and ecological interactions of species that serve as natural resources (Huntington 2000, Huntington et al 2004, Saenz-Arroyo et al 2005, Silvano et al 2006, 2008, Jones et al 2008, Lavides et al 2010. Researchers working in the fields of applied ecology and resource management have increasingly used LEK to fill gaps in scientific knowledge, to devise new testable scientific hypotheses and to propose participative management measures (Johannes et al 2000, White et al 2005, Brook and McLachlan 2008, Rochet et al 2008, Silvano and Valbo-Jorgensen 2008, Irvine et al 2009).…”