Traditional Ecological Knowledge for the Management and Conservation of Coastal-Marine Areas and Resources

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of small-scale fisheries communities may combine environmental information such as marine species behaviour and taxonomy, physical-oceanographic processes, and traditional techniques of... [ view full abstract ]

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of small-scale fisheries communities may combine environmental information such as marine species behaviour and taxonomy, physical-oceanographic processes, and traditional techniques of natural resources management. However, many conventional management and conservation policies for coastal-marine areas tend to ignore TEK, even when they directly affect these communities. Based on an ethno-oceanographic approach, we investigated the TEK of the Araçá Bay small-scale fishery community (São Sebastião, São Paulo, Brazil) through interviewing and ethno-mapping methods, aiming to analyse its application for marine management and conservation strategies. A total of 18 fisheries specialists were interviewed in-depth. We identified TEK on 57 marine ethno-species: 41 fishes, 10 crustaceans, 5 molluscs, and 1 turtle. Based on biophysical characteristics of the environment and species behaviour preferences, we scientifically classified the TEK on marine habitats: four habitats for fishes (“shallow/intertidal waters”, “deeper/sub-tidal waters”, “rocky shores surroundings”, “deep rocky-bottom areas”) and four habitats for invertebrates (“rocky shores”, “unconsolidated-bottom inter-tidal zone”, “sandbar zone” and “sub-tidal zone”). In addition, TEK also provided a detailed description of local currents, which tend to alternate between southwest and northeast directions from outside the bay (depending on tides, winds and other drivers). These physical-oceanographic processes affect fisheries strategies. Southwest currents tend to favour the occurrence of a higher diversity and abundance of fishes). Results demonstrates that TEK can be useful for the management of fish stocks, protection of threatened species and recovery of coastal habitats. TEK should be considered in management and conservation policies for coastal-marine areas and resources.