The creation of coastal space – how local ecological knowledge becomes relevant

Jahn Petter Johnsen,Ann-Magnhild Solås,Bjørn Hersoug

doi:10.1186/2212-9790-13-2

Jahn Petter Johnsen, Ann-Magnhild Solås + Show 1 more

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Journal: Maritime Studies	Publication Date: Feb 6, 2014
Citations: 22	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: UiT The Arctic University of Norway

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Since the 1990s, substantial efforts have been invested in Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) research, but LEK has only been applied in western fisheries and resource management to a limited extent. The attempts to link LEK to model-based fish stock assessment seem to have failed largely because the format of LEK does not fit into the models currently in use. However, LEK is still relevant for natural resource management. This article approaches LEK from a different position, not as knowledge about fish stocks but as a constituent in the creation of coastal space as a management object. Through the description of procedures and practices for collection, mapping and authorisation of LEK in Norway, the article illustrates how LEK can potentially become a central element in fisheries and coastal management by using the construction of coastal space as a core management object. As the article will show, the translation of users’ experiences into formal knowledge (LEK) about specific activities in certain localities imbues the coastal space with formerly unknown properties and contributes to turning it into a more complex management object. Thus, the article illustrates that LEK becomes relevant for management when it is presented in a format that fits into the frames of reference used in coastal zone management.

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Since the 1990s, substantial efforts have been invested in Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) research, but LEK has only been applied in western fisheries and resource management to a limited extent
Based on the size of the catch, information he had obtained from the old-timers on shore, advice from other skippers fishing in the same area and his own interpretation of the relationship between an unfamiliar bottom, unfamiliar currents and fish behaviour, this was like trial fishing, and he had to discuss with his crew before he made a final decision
Our perspective differs from Berkes’s (2007) holistic approach, as we do not see this knowledge (LEK/Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge (FEK)) as total or holistic knowledge about a particular or bounded ecosystem but rather as practical experience derived from particular relationships in a certain environment (Aswani 2011; Valdés-Pizzini and García-Quijano 2009), often formulated and presented on the backdrop of or in relation to modern science that to some extent has provided the users with their language and their concepts for talking about their experiences

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Since the 1990s, substantial efforts have been invested in Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) research, but LEK has only been applied in western fisheries and resource management to a limited extent. The constitution of coastal space through mapping In their description of the attempts to make fisheries governance possible, Johnsen et al (2009a) used an actor-network theory (ANT) approach to describe how fish becomes a manageable object through scientific and administrative practices.

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