Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) of artisanal fishing in the State Sustainable Development Reserve Ponta do Tubarão - RN, Brazil

Abstract

It is discussed in this article the Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) of artisanal fishermen in the State Sustainable Development Reserve Ponta do Tubarão - RN (RDSEPT). The fieldwork was carried out from January 2012 to January 2013 with free and semi-structured interviews being made to 110 artisanal fishermen, which had more than 20 years of experience on fishing communities of Barreiras (n = 38), Diogo Lopes (n = 38) and Sertãozinho (n = 34), with the aim of recording and analyzing the cognitive aspects - emic/ethic of fishermen and to identify the communities that are best organized for the implementation of shared management. After observed and recorded the fisheries landing in the three communities, 25 main caught fish species were collected and identified by fishermen for further identification and analysis of the LEK. Out of these 10 most important species to local communities and one unknown species for the communities were selected for comparison of the LEK. Knowledge of fishermen on food items, trophic ecology, and spatial distribution of these species was consistent with the scientific literature and laboratory analysis, being more detailed regarding food items of fish. Only one species was not identified as pertaining to the region by fishermen, which can generate new hypotheses for future studies targeted to the biology and ecology of this species. The LEK is an important tool and should be considered in the management and resources conservation.