Right-sizing as a strategy for allocating fishing effort in a defined marine ecosystem: A Philippines case study

Connecting a Trophic Model and Local Ecological Knowledge to Improve Fisheries Management: The Case of Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica

“…As Armada et al (2018) stated, we also found that an EwE trophic model can be an interactive and effective communication tool to use with artisanal fishers to promote initial discussions on changes in the fishing ecosystem over time and, from there, to gather their perceptions about these multifaceted and sensitive topics. After the workshops, our team learned that information of this kind should be presented using basic images and graphics, moving gradually from the most basic to the most intricate information.…”

“…Our interdisciplinary team (EwE modeling, behavioral economics, and fisheries ecology) met to address this aspect and to plan the sessions that would be presented in the workshops. The lectures and activities were pretested in a pilot workshop (Leite and Gasalla, 2013) with artisanal fishers in the gulf, and it was found that the simulations of the models needed to be translated into basic graphs and illustrations to facilitate participants' interaction, as other authors have also pointed out (Armada et al, 2018). In the official workshops, the major findings of the study were explained by a facilitator and an assistant using visual aids (graphs and illustrations).…”

“…Their opinions and comments were registered through photographs, notes, recording relevant discussions, and collecting the materials used in the presentations (Saavedra-Díaz et al, 2015). Workshops were conducted at sites of easy access to participants, such as community centers, restaurants, and schools (Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2014), and were based on previously published methodologies for consultation processes (Power et al, 2004;Paramor et al, 2005;Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2014;Armada et al, 2018).…”

“…The added advantage from integrating the information was the engagement from those using the resources and who participated in the workshops. As of yet, there are only very few practical applications of a food web model to engage stakeholders for fisheries management with EwE modeled output (Power et al, 2004;Paramor et al, 2005;Bacalso et al, 2013;Armada et al, 2018), and to our knowledge, there are no reports of this kind in the Latin American region or in the GoN. Most participants stressed the importance of the current participatory process regarding the information received and how they relate to it, and they also mentioned the need for considering their opinions and perceptions.…”

“…While modeling tools have widely been applied for ecosystem-based fisheries assessment (Christensen and Walters, 2005), there are as of yet very few examples in the literature of their application with fishers (Power et al, 2004), despite the fact that their participation and knowledge in the decision-making process have often been shown to enhance sustainable management (Paramor et al, 2005;Pita et al, 2010;Mackinson et al, 2011;Msomphora, 2015;Leite and Pita, 2016). There are quite a few studies that are using Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) with local fishers and other stakeholders in surveys (Paramor et al, 2005;Bacalso et al, 2013) as well as in workshops (Power et al, 2004;Paramor et al, 2005;Armada et al, 2018). The need to create synergies across scientific and local knowledge systems is engrained in the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international initiatives but has been limited in the global science-policy interface (Mackinson, 2001;Tengö et al, 2014), including the Latin-American tropical context (Salas et al, 2007;Begossi, 2015;Saavedra-Díaz et al, 2015).…”