Exploring diversity in expert knowledge: variation in local ecological knowledge of Alaskan recreational and subsistence fishers

Maggie N Chan,Anne H Beaudreau,Philip A Loring,Barbara Neis

doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsy193

Abstract

AbstractLocal ecological knowledge (LEK) of resource users is a valuable source of information about environmental trends and conditions. However, many factors influence how people perceive their environment and it may be important to identify sources of variation in LEK when using it to understand ecological change. This study examined variation in LEK arising from differences in people’s experience in the environment. From 2014 to 2016, we conducted 98 semi-structured interviews with subsistence fishers and recreational charter captains in four Alaskan coastal communities to document LEK of seven fish species. Fishers observed declines in fish abundance and body size, though the patterns varied among species, regions, and fishery sectors. Overall, subsistence harvesters provided a longer-term view of abundance changes compared with charter captains. Regression analyses indicated that the extent of people’s fishing areas and their years of fishing experience were relatively important factors in explaining variation in fishers’ perceptions of fish abundance. When taken together, perspectives from fishers in multiple regions and sectors can provide a more complete picture of changes in nearshore fish populations than any source alone. These findings underscore the importance of including people with different types of expertise in local knowledge studies designed to document environmental change.

Highlights

Scholars have emphasized the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) to the understanding of marine ecosystems (Johannes et al, 2000; Hind, 2014) and many have called for incorporation of LEK of resource users into natural resource science and management (Neis et al, 1999; Huntington, 2000; Ban et al, 2017)
We interviewed 45 subsistence fishers in the communities of Gustavus (n 1⁄4 16), Hoonah (n 1⁄4 17), and Sitka (n 1⁄4 12), and 45 charter captains in Homer (n 1⁄4 18) and Sitka (n 1⁄4 27)
Charter captains observed declines in halibut size, with the median fish size in Southcentral decreasing from 30 kg in the 1990s to 10 kg in the 2010s and in Southeast decreasing from 40 kg in the 1990s to 20 kg in the 2010s (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Scholars have emphasized the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) to the understanding of marine ecosystems (Johannes et al, 2000; Hind, 2014) and many have called for incorporation of LEK of resource users into natural resource science and management (Neis et al, 1999; Huntington, 2000; Ban et al, 2017). A considerable body of research has focused on using LEK to understand historical trends and patterns in the environment (Neis et al, 1999; Huntington, 2000; Raymond et al, 2010; Thornton and Scheer, 2012). LEK has been used for environmental monitoring (Moller et al, 2004; Brook and McLachlan, 2008), understanding historical patterns of fish abundance (Anadon et al, 2009; Hallwass et al, 2013), identifying ecologically important areas (Bundy and Davis, 2013), and as an indicator of emerging environmental trends (Azzurro et al, 2011). There can be substantial differences between LEK and scientific knowledge, they are often complementary, together providing a more complete understanding of ecological change than either source alone (Huntington et al, 2016; Thurstan et al, 2016). LEK can offer both qualitative (e.g. resource “health”, direction of change) and quantitative information about ecosystems. We focus on quantitative aspects of LEK

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Conclusion