Rapidly shifting environmental baselines among fishers of the Gulf of California

Abstract

Shifting environmental baselines are inter-generational changes in perception of the state of the environment. As one generation replaces another, people's perceptions of what is natural change even to the extent that they no longer believe historical anecdotes of past abundance or size of species. Although widely accepted, this phenomenon has yet to be quantitatively tested. Here we survey three generations of fishers from Mexico's Gulf of California (N=108), where fish populations have declined steeply over the last 60 years, to investigate how far and fast their environmental baselines are shifting. Compared to young fishers, old fishers named five times as many species and four times as many fishing sites as once being abundant/productive but now depleted (Kruskal-Wallis tests, both p<0.001) with no evidence of a slowdown in rates of loss experienced by younger compared to older generations (Kruskal-Wallis test, n.s. in both cases). Old fishers caught up to 25 times as many Gulf grouper Mycteroperca jordani as young fishers on their best ever fishing day (regression r(2)=0.62, p<0.001). Despite times of plentiful large fish still being within living memory, few young fishers appreciated that large species had ever been common or nearshore sites productive. Such rapid shifts in perception of what is natural help explain why society is tolerant of the creeping loss of biodiversity. They imply a large educational hurdle in efforts to reset expectations and targets for conservation.

Social acceptability of a marine protected area: The case of Reunion Island

“…If this is the case, the perceptions that people act upon can have direct consequences on environmental quality irrespective of whether they are 'accurate' in reality or not [50]. Such perceptions have been found to be influenced by a range of socio-economic factors such as wealth, age, education, culture, employment [34][35][36][37]51] or culturally defined 'worldview' they hold [30,52]. Socio-economic factors structure differences between and within communities particularly in developing societies and result in variations in the levels of understanding and acceptance of conservation projects [22,34,53].…”

“…The focus on parents' perceptions is important as they were likely to significantly influence children's' awareness and perceptions which is often considered crucial for future change [37].…”

“…Many social science studies have shown that socio-economic characteristics play a significant role in shaping behaviours and perceptions [34][35][36][37]. Social acceptability was therefore analysed in relation to origin and employment status.…”

Perceptions of trends in Seychelles artisanal trap fisheries: comparing catch monitoring, underwater visual census and fishers' knowledge

“…As such, more available memories, which may be pleasant, unusual or emotive for the individual (Matlin 2004), will appear to be more frequent and have a greater influence on the perception of past conditions. The 'shifting baseline syndrome' has also been reported to affect fishers' perceptions of deteriorating environmental conditions (Saenz-Arroyo et al 2005;Bunce et al 2007) and can operate at a societal level, as a result of younger generations being unaware of past abundance (termed generational amnesia), or as a result of individuals forgetting previous abundances (termed personal amnesia) (Papworth et al 2009). Holm (2003) characterized the process of researching and recording FK as the construction of a decontextualized knowledge, which he referred to as FEK * .…”

Ecological and socioeconomic implications of a northern range expansion of black sea bass, Centropristis striata

“…However, fishers' observations have become a critical component of establishing historic trends of species' distribution and abundance (e.g., Saenz-Arroyo 2005, Azzurro et al 2011, Thornton and Scheer 2012 and may be incredibly valuable for documenting species' range expansions. In particular, older fishers may be a vital source of information on historical changes when long-term data sets are unavailable (Johannes et al 2000, Saenz-Arroyo 2005. Furthermore, the use of fishers' observations to improve resource management has gained traction in recent years, particularly in rapidly changing ecosystems (Thornton andScheer 2012, Beaudreau andLevin 2014).…”