Abstract
Fishers and small-scale fisheries worldwide have been marginalized historically. Now it is clear that integrating fishers in management processes is key to resource conservation, but it is less clear how to do it. Here, based on a literature review and new information, we present and analyze a case in which the participation of fishers in the management process was crucial in recovering an overexploited small-scale fishery for the pirarucu (Arapaima spp.) in the Amazon Basin, Brazil. In 8 years of experimental management, from 1999 to 2006, the population of pirarucu increased 9-fold (from about 2200 to 20,650 individuals), harvest quotas increased 10-fold (from 120 to 1249 individuals), and fishers’ participation in the management process increased and they benefited from increased monetary returns. Additionally, the number of communities conducting the management scheme increased from 4 in 1999 to 108 in 2006, following the demands of fishers and regional government agencies. Based on our analysis, we suggest that the participation of fishers in the management of other small-scale fisheries in the world can be improved by focusing on (1) applying the knowledge and skills of fishers in resource monitoring and management, (2) bridging knowledge systems among all involved stakeholders, (3) collaborating with fishers that are interested in, and capable of conducting, resource conservation schemes, and (4) conducting management under conditions of uncertainty.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agrawal A (2001) Common property institutions and sustainable governance of resources. World Development 29:1649–1672
Agrawal A, Gupta K (2005) Decentralization and participation: the governance of common pool resources in Nepal’s Terai. World Development 33:1101–1114
Arantes C, Garcez DS, Castello L (2006) Densidades de pirarucu (Arapaima gigas, Teleostei, Osteoglossidae) em lagos das Reservas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá e Amanã, Amazonas, Brasil. Uakari 2:37–43
Arantes C, Castello L, Garcez DS (2007) Contagens de pirarucu Arapaima gigas feitas por Pescadores individualmente em Mamirauá, Brasil. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences 2:263–269
Aswani S (2005) Customary sea tenure in Oceania as a case of rights-based fishery management: does it work? Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 15:285–307
Ayres JM (1995) As matas de várzea do Mamirauá. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. Sociedade Civil Mamirauá, Tefé, Brasil, 99 pp
Baelde P (2007) Using fishers' knowledge goes beyond filling gaps in scientific knowledge: analysis of Australian experiences. In: Haggan N, Neis B, Baird IG (eds) Fishers’ knowledge in fisheries science and management. UNESCO Publishing, Paris, pp 381–399
Baland JM, Platteau JP (1996) Halting degradation of natural resources: is there a role for rural communities? Clarendon Press, Oxford
Balaz A (1998) The proposed co-management property regime for the marine algae, Durvillae Antarctica (“cochayuyo”), in the Mapuche community of Rukakura, Chile. Dissertation, University of California, 51 pp
Bayley PB, Petrere M (1989) In: Dodge DP (ed) Proceedings of the international large river symposium. Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 106, National Research Council Canada, Toronto, pp 385–398
Berkes F (1994) Co-management: bridging the two solitudes. Northern Perspectives 22:18–20
Berkes F (1999) Sacred ecology. Traditional ecological knowledge and resource management. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia
Berkes F, Mahon R, McConney P, Pollnac R, Pomeroy R (2001) Managing small-scale fisheries: alternative directions and methods. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, 309 pp
Berkes F, Reid WV, Wilbanks TJ, Capistrano D (2006) In: Reid WV, Berkes F, Wilbanks T, Capistrano D (eds) Bridging scales and knowledge systems concepts and applications in ecosystem assessment/Millennium ecosystem assessment. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 315–332
Buckland ST, Anderson DR, Burnham KP, Laake JL, Borchers DL, Thomas L (2001) Introduction to distance sampling: estimating abundance of biological populations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 595 pp
Castello L (2004) A method to count pirarucu Arapaima gigas: fishers, assessment, and management. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 24:379–389
Castello L (2007) A socio-ecological synthesis on the conservation of the pirarucu (Arapaima) in floodplains of the Amazon. PhD thesis, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, 190 pp
Castello L (2008a) Lateral migration of the arapaima in floodplains of the Amazon. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 17:38–46
Castello L (2008b) Nesting habitat of pirarucu Arapaima gigas in floodplains of the Amazon. Journal of Fish Biology 72:1520–1528
Castello L (2008c) Re-pensando o estudo e o manejo da pesca no Brasil. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences 3:18–22
Castello L, Castello JP, Hall CAS (2007) Problemas en el manejo de las pesquerias tropicales. Gaceta Ecológica (Numero Especial) 84–85:65–73
Castello L, Stewart DJ Assessing CITES Nondetriment Findings Procedures for Arapaima in Brazil. In: Cochrane K, Grant G, Vasconcellos M (eds) Proceedings of the international expert workshop on CITES non-detriment finding procedures. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland (forthcoming)
Castilla JC, Defeo O (2001) Latin American benthic shellfisheries: emphasis on co-management and experimental practices. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 11:1–30
Chuenpagdee R, Jentoft S (2007) Step zero for fisheries co-management: what precedes implementation? Marine Policy 31:657–668
Cinner JE, Sutton SG, Bond TG (2007) Socioeconomic thresholds that affect use of customary fisheries management tools. Conservation Biology 21:1603–1611
Costanza R, Andrade F, Antunes P et al (1998) Principles for sustainable governance of the oceans. Science 281:198–199
Crampton WGR, Viana JP, Castello L, Damasceno JMB (2004) Fisheries in the Amazon várzea: historical trends, current status, and factors affecting sustainability. In: Silvius K, Bodmer R, Fragoso JMV (eds) People in nature: wildlife conservation in South and Central America. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 99–122
Davis A, Wagner JR (2003) Who knows? On the importance of identifying “experts” when researching local ecological knowledge. Human Ecology 31:463–489
Foale S (1998) Assessment and management of the trochus fishery at West Nggela, Solomon Islands: an interdisciplinary approach. Ocean & Coastal Management 40:187–205
Garcez DS, Castello L, Queiroz HL (2005) Parecer do Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá (IDSM) sobre o “Relatório do Manejo Participativo dos Recursos Pesqueiros em 2004—Programa Zona Franca Verde—Município de Fonte Boa—Alto Solimões” e sua solicitação de nova cota de pesca para o ano de 2005. Internal Report, Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá, Amazonas, 5 pp
Gillingham S (2001) Social organization and participatory resource management in Brazilian Ribeirinho communities: a case study of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas. Society and Natural Resources 14:803–814
Gordon HC (1954) The economic theory of a common-property resource: the fishery. Journal of Political Economy 62:124–142
Goulding M (1980) The fish and the forest. University of California Press, Los Angeles, 280 pp
Haggan N, Neis B, Baird IG (eds) (2007) Fishers’ knowledge in fisheries science and management. UNESCO Publishing, Paris, 437 pp
Hardin G (1968) The tragedy of the commons. Science 162:1243–1248
Huntington H (2000) Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecological Applications 10:1270–1274
Isaac VJ, Rocha VLC, Mota S (1993) Considerações sobre a legislação da "piracema" e outras restrições da pesca da região do Médio Amazonas. In: Furtado LG, Leitão W, Melo AF (eds) Povos das águas, realidade e perspectivas na Amazônia. Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia, Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Belém, Brasil, pp 292–301
Johannes RE (1978) Traditional marine conservation methods in Oceania and their demise. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 9:349–364
Johannes RE (1998) The case for data-less marine resource management: examples from tropical nearshore fisheries. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13:243–246
Johannes RE, Freeman MMR, Hamilton RJ (2000) Ignore fishers’ knowledge and miss the boat. Fish Fisheries 1:257–271. doi:10.1046/j.1467-2979.2000.00019.x
Junk WJ (1997) General aspects of floodplain ecology with special reference to Amazonian floodplains. In: Junk WJ (ed), The central-Amazonian floodplain: ecology of a pulsing system, pp 3–20. Springer-Verlag, New York
Ludwig D, Hilborn R, Walters CJ (1993) Uncertainty, resource exploitation, and conservation: lessons from history. Science 260:17–36
Luling KH (1964) Zur biologie und okologie von Arapaima gigas (Pisces: Osteoglossidae). Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Ökologie der Tiere 54:436–530
Maccord PFL, Silvano RAM, Ramires MS, Clauzet M, Begossi A (2007) Dynamics of artisanal fisheries in two Brazilian Amazonian reserves: implications to co-management. Hydrobiologia 583:365–376
Mahon R (1997) Does fisheries science serve the needs of managers of small stocks in developing countries? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54:2207–2213
Martin-Smith KM, Samoilys MA, Meeuwig JJ, Vincent ACJ (2004) Collaborative development of management options for an artisanal fishery for seahorses in the central Philippines. Ocean & Coastal Management 47:165–193
McCay BJ, Acheson J (1989) The question of the commons: the culture and ecology of communal resources. University of Arizona Press, Tucson
McGrath DG, Castro F, Futemma C, Amaral BD, Calabria J (1993) Fisheries and the evolution of resource management on the lower Amazon floodplain. Human Ecology 21:167–195
McManus JW, Na-ola C, Reyes R, Kesner K (1992) Resource ecology of the Bolinao coral reef system. ICLARM Studies and Reviews 22, Manila, 117 pp
Moran E (1984) Human ecology in the Amazon. Interciencia 9:341–424
Moreno G (2007) Using local ecological knowledge (LEK) to provide insight on the tuna purse seine fleets of the Indian Ocean useful for management. Aquatic Living Resources 20:367–376
Neis B, Schneider DC, Felt L, Haedrich RL, Fischer J, Hutchings JA (1999) Fisheries assessment: what can be learned from interviewing resource users? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 56:1949–1963
Nunan F (2006) Empowerment and institutions: managing fisheries in Uganda. World Development 34:1316–1332
Oliveira JAP (2002) Implementing environmental policies in developing countries through decentralization: the case of protected areas in Bahia, Brazil. World Development 30:1713–1736
Orenzans JM, Parma AM, Gabriel J, Barahona N, Montecinos M, Elias I (2005) What are the key elements for the sustainability of “s-fisheries”? Insights from South America. Bulletin of Marine Science 76:527–556
Ostrom E (1990) Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 298 pp
Pauly D (1997) Small-scale fisheries in the tropics: marginality, marginalization and some implication for fisheries management. In: Pikitch EK, Huppert DD, Sissenwine MP (eds) Global trends: fisheries management. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD, pp 40–49
Pauly D (2006) Major trends in small-scale marine fisheries, with emphasis on developing countries, and some implications for the social sciences. Maritime Studies 4:7–22
Pauly D, Silvestre G, Smith IR (1989) On development, fisheries and dynamite: a brief review of tropical fisheries management. Natural Resource Modelling 3:307–329
Pinkerton E (1989) Introduction. In: Pinkerton E (ed) Cooperative management of local fisheries: new directions for improved management and community development. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp 3–33
Poizat G, Baran E (1997) Fishermen’s knowledge as background information in tropical fish ecology: a quantitative comparison with fish sampling results. Environmental Biology of Fishes 50:435–449
Pomeroy RS, Katon BM, Harkes I (2001) Conditions affecting the success of fisheries co-management: lessons from Asia. Marine Policy 25:197–208
Queiroz HL (2000) Natural history and conservation of pirarucu, Arapaima gigas, at the Amazonian várzea: red giants in muddy waters. Dissertation, University of Saint Andrews, Saint Andrews, 226 pp
Queiroz HL, Sardinha AD et al (1999) Estratégias para o manejo de recursos pesqueiros em Mamirauá. In: Queiroz HL, Crampton WGR (eds) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. Sociedade Civil Mamirauá, Tefé, Brasil, pp 108–141
Silvano RAM, Begossi A (2005) Local knowledge on a cosmopolitan fish: ethnoecology of Pomatomus saltatrix (Pomatomidae) in Brazil and Australia. Fisheries Research 71:43–59
Stanley RD, Rice J (2007) Fishers' knowledge? Why not add their scientific skills while you are at it. In Haggan N, Neis B, Baird IG (eds) Fishers’ knowledge in fisheries science and management. UNESCO Publishing, Paris, pp 401–420
Thompson D, FAO (1988) The world’s two marine fishing industries: how they compare. Naga, The Iclarm Quarterly 11:17
Veríssimo J (1895) A pesca na Amazônia. Livraria Clássica Alves and Companhia, Rio de Janeiro, 130 pp
Viana JP, Damasceno JMB, Castello L, Crampton WGR (2004) Economic incentives for sustainable community management of fishery resources in the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil. In: Silvius K, Bodmer R, Fragoso JMV (eds) People in nature: wildlife conservation in South and Central America. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 139–154
Viana JP, Castello L, Damasceno JMB et al (2007) Manejo Comunitário do Pirarucu Arapaima gigas na Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá – Amazonas, Brasil. In: Áreas aquáticas protegidas como instumento de gestão pesqueira. Série áreas protegidas do Brasil, Vol 4. Ministério do Meio Ambiente e IBAMA, Brasília, pp 239–261
Wade R (1988) Village republics: economic conditions for collective action in South India. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 238 pp
World Commission on Environment, Development (1987) Our common future. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 400 pp
Acknowledgments
We dedicate this study to the memory of Seu Antonio Martins, a leader of Mamirauá fishers who is missed by all who knew him. This study would not have been possible without years of friendship, close collaboration, and uncountable discussions with Mamirauá fishers. We thank J. Gibbs, T. O. C. Castello, C. Franco, D. Stewart, C. Hall, F. Berkes, and T. Buchholz for comments on various versions of this manuscript. Two of the three anonymous reviewers (including Renato Silvano) provided valuable constructive comments. Funding was provided by the Sociedade Civil Mamirauá and the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (Brazil), the Department for International Development (England), and the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Overbrook Foundation (United States).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Castello, L., Viana, J.P., Watkins, G. et al. Lessons from Integrating Fishers of Arapaima in Small-Scale Fisheries Management at the Mamirauá Reserve, Amazon. Environmental Management 43, 197–209 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9220-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9220-5