Taking fishers’ knowledge and its implications to fisheries policy seriously

Abstract

Sustainable fishing is one of the most pressing challenges for mankind and requires insightful knowledge of the drivers that may foster or hinder predatory exploitation. It has been widely recognized that Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of resources, such as fisheries, worldwide. Nevertheless such knowledge continues to be marginalized and unacknowledged by a range of academic scientists and policy makers. In the present paper, we tackle this issue by discussing laws regarding closed fishing seasons, which are part of the Brazilian environmental policies for protecting marine fauna, from the perspective of artisanal fishers' knowledge. In Brazil, these laws are typically based on governmental decisions (i.e., by administrative organizations and researchers acting as consultants) without taking fishers' knowledge into account. Through semistructured interviews with traditional experts of fishing villages situated along the northeast coast of Brazil, we aimed to investigate their knowledge of fish reproductive periods and analyze how it is related to the closed seasons at work in their region. We found an exact agreement between fishers' knowledge and closed season regulations on the reproductive period of the mangrove crab (Ucides cordatus), but a conflict regarding the reproductive period of two snook species and four species of shrimps. We highlight the potential of fishers' knowledge contributions to environmental regulations and we also explore three challenges of incorporating epistemic diversity in environmental policy. We conclude by advocating for a reflexive transdisciplinarity that highlights the potential of Indigenous and local knowledge while critically reflecting on the methodological and political challenges of transdisciplinary practices.

Critical Points Concerning Artisanal Fishing: an Analysis from the Perspective of Artisanal Fishers in Southeastern Brazil

“…This indicates that these points pose greater interference with the practice of artisanal fishery. In contrast, traditional knowledge can be an important tool for contributing to sustainable practices by minimizing these critical points (Renck et al, 2023). Local knowledge increases and adapts over generations through the experiences and perceptions of artisanal fishers concerning the changes that occur in the environment.…”

“…Local knowledge increases and adapts over generations through the experiences and perceptions of artisanal fishers concerning the changes that occur in the environment. Anticipating interference and creating local and regional public policies (Renck et al, 2023) are crucial activities.…”

“…However, traditional knowledge is not considered in public policies and the participation of local actors is little encouraged (Renck et al, 2023).…”

Price volatility in fish food systems: spatial arbitrage as an adaptive strategy for small-scale fish traders

“…Similarly, most social-ecological resilience literature on smallscale fisheries to date has focused on fishing (production), fisheries management, and the livelihoods of fisherfolk, whereas little attention has been paid to the post-harvest sector and the resilience of fish processors, wholesalers, and retailers' livelihoods (e.g., Allison and Ellis 2001, Allison et al 2009, Badjeck et al 2010, Hanich et al 2018, Macusi et al 2020, Gianelli et al 2021, Partelow et al 2021, Renck et al 2023. Social-ecological We address these gaps by evaluating the resilience of small-scale usipa (Engraulicypris sardella; a small pelagic fish native to Lake Malawi) retailers' livelihoods to price volatility.…”

Pluralist Ethnobiology: Between Philosophical Reflection and Transdisciplinary Action

“…As ethnobiologists have highlighted rapid environmental change (Wyndham, Lepofsky and Tiffany 2011;Wolverton 2013) and decolonization (McAlvay et al 2021) as focal points of new phases of ethnobiology, the methodological diversity of the field has been further growing through normative projects such as action ethnobiology (Armstrong and McAlvay 2019) and transdisciplinary research (Athayde, Stepp and Ballester 2016;Bollettin, El-Hani and Ludwig 2023). Contemporary ethnobiology therefore focuses not only on the study of human and natural systems but also on interventions in areas such as environmental justice, conservation policy, agroecology, biocultural heritage, Indigenous rights, land conflicts, food security, and food sovereignty (Vandebroek et al 2020;Renck et al 2023).…”