The use of Local Ecological Knowledge as a complementary approach to understand the temporal and spatial patterns of fishery resources distribution

No abstract

21We followed landings of dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, from 2013 to 2019. 22 We observed 1,896 individuals of dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, in Copacabana, Rio 23 de Janeiro, from September 2013 to February 2019. The total weight of the catches was 6,065.57 24 kg, with an average of 1,442.50 kg/year and a std of 147.30 kg. 25 We integrated fishers in our study through citizen science (CS): individuals were trained 26 to monitor grouper gonads and supplied information on fishing spots and prices. After comparing 27 catch curves (based on weight) and curve prices (in the Brazilian monetary currency of reals), 28 our results showed that catches in the Copacabana fishery have been stable (the results of the 29 Kruskal-Wallis test showed no significant difference for either the weight of the catches or the 30 average prices of dusky groupers in the years compared). Copacabana has been a sustainable 31 fishery when considering its catches of dusky grouper. This is a very important result for 32 conservation and management, considering the importance of small-scale fisheries in terms of 33 their low fishing efforts and their possible effects on vulnerable species, as well as their 34 ecological and economic importance in developing countries. Citizen science, alomng with local 35 ecological knowledge, helps integrate research and fisheries as well as researchers and fishers 36 and allows for larger sampling efforts and management training for fishers. 57 (e) SFFs lack infrastructure, often occur in remote areas and have low political 58 power. 59 60 Citizen science, local knowledge and the Copacabana fishery 61Disciplines occupy different niches, and ecology came to be a separate niche (as did 62 human ecology) in the postwar period, altering its identity from a soft to a hard science; 63 however, the field of ecology has never lost its links to the physical and social sciences [7]. The 64understanding of the complexities of fisheries management can help to re-establish the balance 65 between the physical and social sciences and conservation ecology by demonstrating that 66 scientific research could be aided in obtaining positive outcomes for fisheries management by 67 other forms of knowledge. 68Currently, local knowledge (LEK) is still under scrutiny with respect to its usefulness and 69 its acceptance in biological or fisheries science [8]. Here, we argue that LEK is very important 70 for data-poor countries; through knowledge from fishers (i.e., LEK) or the public (i.e., CS), we 71 can reduce the costs of time and money by increasing the efficiency of ecological data collection. 72Tropical countries, in particular, lack the infrastructure for data collection, and many have high 73 biodiversity with several species for which there is no knowledge at all. In Brazil, for example, 74 among the 65 marine species most often consumed by marine small-scale fisheries, 33% are 75 decreasing, and 54% have an unknown status [9]. In the freshwater fisheries of the Amazonian 5 76 rivers, among the 90...

Background: Human-animal interactions with mutual benefits in the wild are rare. Such positive interactions seem to require an intricate knowledge from the human side on the animals' behavior and their habitat. In southern Brazil, dolphins and human net-casting fishers have specialized in a cooperative foraging, in which fishers report being able to identify and name dolphins. Here, we evaluate the consensus in their ability to recognize the individual dolphins they interact with. By investigating the reliability of this recognition process, we assess the pros and cons of relying on the fishers' traditional knowledge to further understand the behavior and ecology of dolphins at the individual level. We also assess the potential role of traditional knowledge for the maintenance of this unusual interaction. Methods: We interviewed 38 fishers using a semi-structured questionnaire. During each interview, we evaluate their recognition ability of dolphins by showing high-quality photos of dorsal fins of different dolphins, asking questions about the dolphins' behavior and traits, and about how fishers recognize each dolphin. We also evaluated information about the fishers. Different indices were used to measure the fishers' ability to recognize dolphins via photos, and their consensus on individual identification. These indices were modeled as functions of traits of both dolphins and fishers to investigate which ones influence the recognition process. Results: We found that fishers can primarily recognize dolphins by natural marks in the dorsal fin but there was little consensus in recognition. Fishers also tend to repeat the name of the most "popular" dolphins for different photos, indicating low reliability in individual recognition. We also found that fishers who learned from relatives (vertical learning) how to interact with dolphins tend to be more accurate and have higher consensus in dolphin recognition than those fishers who learned from friends (horizontal learning) or individually. Conclusion: Artisanal fishers have a deep understanding of the dolphins and the system they are inserted in. However, the lack of consensus in identifying individual dolphins herein reported indicates that using their traditional knowledge to further understand dolphin behavior and ecology at the individual level requires caution. Our study also suggests that the transmission of this tradition from parents to sons can be crucial to preserve such a unique human-animal positive interaction in its original form.