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Use of historical knowledge in fisheries management
Tonya Smith & Bryan Wong
Can Historical Names and Fishers’ Knowledge Help to Reconstruct the Distribution of Fish Populations in Lakes? –Johan Spens, 2007.
Spens 2007 was the first in primary literature to employ
lake names in revealing pre-industrial fish distribution Map historical distribution of local brown trout populations:
no study has been done before this to map historical brown trout ranges or understand the extinction rate
Understanding how anthropogenic changes in freshwater ecosystems in Europe have eradicated or reduced brown trout populations throughout their range
Previously, methods available were interviews and archival data: singular brief snapshot at a local scale
This study enabled historic names and fishers’ knowledge into wider landscapes with a historical dimension
“Was the first in primary literature…”
Historical place names; Rö-lakes
Limnology reports to verify suitable habitat
Gill netting and electro fishing
Fishermen interviews
TEMPORAL COMPONENT OF DATA
Aybes & Yalden (1995). Place-name evidence for the former distribution
and status of wolves and beavers in Britain. Mamm. Rev. 25(4): 201-226.
Cox, Maehr & Larkin (2002). The Biogeography of Faunal Place Names in the United States. Conserv.Biol. 16(4): 1143-1150.
Place names of range-limited species demonstrated strong fidelity to historical ranges.
spatial patterns of faunal place names are important indicators of a species' historical distribution
these place names reflect culturally important connections between humans and native fauna
analysis of place names may provide important biogeographical information for maintaining or restoring species and habitat components
Support for paper
Wallace (1998) mentions the use of mapped
place names to indicate past occurrences of sturgeon, whale and halibut banks within the SoG than were once productive fishing habitat gone extinct
Souza and Garcia-Marillo (2001) tested and verified the feasibility of using place names as indicators of historical landscape
Similar papers
“got this idea from Tony Pitcher, former head
of the Fisheries Center of UBC. He mentioned use of names for their world famous "Back to the future" -program to me when he visited Sweden back in 2000.”-Johan Spens
Inspiration for paper
Zoology.ubc.ca
Reconstructing the Strait of Georgia
Ecosystem Multidisciplinary workshop held in November
1997 Present, 100 years ago before commercial
fisheries, 500 years ago before native and European contact
BACK TO THE FUTURE PROGRAM
Ecologyandsociety.org
Fish names and fishing related terms
extracted from:T. Montler, 1991. Saanich North Straits Salish Classified Word
List.
Realized close associations between Saanich people and the coastal resources of the San Juan Islands and Strait of Georgia
Illustrated the need for cross validation by natural scientists of word lists in building a reliable database
Native Oral Tradition Using Fish-related Terms from the Saanich Language
(Jean Paul Danko 1998)
Thekey’• Sockeye• July
Henen’• Humpback salmon• August
Thaw’en• Coho• September
(Montler 1991)
Saanich Salishan
SPENS 2007
AIM
THEORY
HYPOTHESIS
to show historical lake names from maps,
together with limnological surveys, can be useful indicators of past and present fish distribution if properly validated
FISHERS’ + SURVEYS + MAP = BROWN TROUT
AIM
+ +
=ALL PHOTOS PUBLIC DOMAIN WIKICOMMONS
Conventional scientific research done with multi-mesh sized
gillnets would be too costly, time consuming and labour intensive to map the thousands of lakes required to study landscape-size presence and absence of fish populations
Therefore attempt to validate historical names from interviews with local fisherman to gather data for larger-scale study
Interviews make it possible to understand changes over the past 80 years, and longer if pieced together with fragmented and rare archival data
Lake names with species are potentially valuable historical records of fisher’s knowledge
THEORY
The proportion of “historical brown trout term”
lakes (Ro lakes) with/without brown trout populations is the same as for other lakes with/without such populations
JOHAN’S HYPOTHESIS
1509 lakes and over 700000 ha of the lake watersheds in the northern boreal region of Sweden (vasternorrland and parts of vasterbotten)
Used one geographic region rather than random sampling of lakes to increase the likelihood of detecting phenomenon in local dialects relevant to the distribution of brown trout
AREA
PHOTO PUBLIC DOMAIN WIKICOMMONS
Area is sparsely populated and majority of
lakes belong to 63 privately owned fisheries management organizations
FMOs are associations of private landowners in this region sell licenses to fishers and manage waters, as well as provide information about the fisheries
AREA
Collected interviews with older fishers and 250
local fishing rights owners in FMOs between 1985-2001, focusing on current species distributions, stocking, introductions and extinctions in all lakes
Also collected similar information conducted by interviews of local fishers in remaining areas not organized by FMOs
METHODS
Began with structured questions of fish species
distribution, spawning areas and stalking Less organized part of the interview worked to evaluate
fishers general knowledge and get additional contacts who could provide knowledge about specific areas, fish species or historic events involving the fishery
In return, fishers were given information about conservation and management of lakes, creating a comprehensive knowledge exchange
Data regarding fish presence and absence was collected using two primary sources that confirmed each other
INTERVIEWS
Other Data used included archival data (from
three major forestry companies, country and municipality administration, FMOs, The National Board of Fishers etc), historical names from maps (from the Swedish Land Survey 1961-7 and parish, ordinance or village maps dating back to 1672) and limnological surveys (1985-2001)
INTERVIEWS CONTINUED…
Fishers suggested that several hundred of the surveyed
lakes held fish
Some were eliminated because they’d been stocked, featured translocated fish or were dependent on hatcheries
Others were eliminated were insufficient trout habitat was found (ie. No substrate for spawning)
The majority of the remaining lakes (162) were verified by gillnet surveys and found to contain past or present self sustaining trout populations
Quality control of presence/absence
Rö No Rö Total Frequency
Brown 47 115 162 0.11
Trout
No Brown 4 1343 1347 0.89
Trout
Sum 51 1458 1509 1
• 29% of all lakes with historic or present brown trout populations had Rö in its name
• 92% of Brown Trout lakes had Rö as part of its name• 11% chance a randomly chosen lake would be a have brown trout in itHypothesis: the number of Rö lakes with/without brown trout is proportionate to number of Brown Trout populations if any lake is randomly chosen….is rejectedTherefore: Rö Lakes were associated with historic or present self sustainable populations
Re s u l t s
Interviewees were successful in identifying all lakes with
past or present self sustaining brown trout populations (though 2 lakes mentioned had populations that had gone extinct and 2 had been stocked)
interviewees may have been slightly overly optimistic regarding self-sustaining populations (maybe also unaware of recent extinctions)
validated with combined data from test-fishing results, stocking records, other archival data and habitat surveys
Also validated fishers knowledge of lakes with an absence of brown trout
No new populations unknown to interviewees were discovered
Interview Results
Interviews stated that 10 of the Ro lakes had lost
brown trout populations in last 80 years, confirmed by archival data and test fishing2 additional lakes were found to have experienced extinctions through test fishing
Limnological surveys and archival data suggest that all lakes with extinct populations had experienced major anthropogenic changes more so than lakes where populations still existed
Extinctions
Gillnetting lacks temporal perspective can miss extinct spp
Historical names useful for pre industrial distributions
Interviews can verify presence or absence reliably
Goal for restoration or management
Spatial and temporal data, linked to traditional
names, can be used in a variety of ways: Identify suitable habitat Obtain landscape inventories of fish species Anthropogenic impacts or past natural
disturbances can be identified when named species are not present
Works with statistics to provide information about lakes over large areas rather than alone as a brief, single snapshot
Historic names--“Rö-lakes”
3 lakes with ro in the name were omitted
because found to have originated with Ry, meaning something other than brown trout
Also used röding for arctic char, but rö lakes were found to be unsuitable habitat for arctic char
Problems in Translations
Historical names in maps convey important
fishers knowledge on environmental history, which can be important for conservation and management
Simple map overview successfully identified 1/3 of all lakes in 1509 containing brown trout
Same amount by sampling of gillnets would take 5 years and would miss extinct populations and lack the temporal perspective indicated by the map names
Discussion
Integrating historical fishers names and
knowledge can be used in fisheries sciences to move from a brief snapshots at local scale into landscape-wide context with a historical scale
Inspiration
Rembrandt Public Domian Wikicommons
What is TLEK?
Slowmuse.wordpress.com
TLEK
Develops over a long period of time
Is experienced-basedHas important socio-
cultural and biological dimensions
dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Why Use TLEK?
Local people very aware of spatial and temporal
distribution of the resource, critical habitat and ecological
linkages and changes over timeapagemedia.com
Why Use TLEK?
Good source of knowledge for remote places that may be poorly
studied
swedenfishing.com
Why Use TLEK?
Provides community support for
management plans
Usp.ac.fj
Allows for information collection on a limited
budget
Why Use TLEK?
www.peanutbutterandjenny.com
Legal incentives and implications
Why Use TLEK?
Challenges of Incorporating TLEK
Cultural ChallengesTEK is often closely
associated with beliefs, values and experiences
Can create distortion of information while
being used in scientific research
Challenges of Incorporating TLEK
Purpose of the project that the knowledge is
being used for and how it is incorporated
Challenges of Incorporating TLEK
Issues of power dynamics and increasing
access to information
Challenges of Incorporating TLEK
Current Applications of TLEK
1. Pollution and ecotoxicology2. Lunar rhythms and fishing3. Daily weather predictions, seasons and fishing schedules4. Traditional technology, selection of gear, and techniques5. Spawning and aggregations of fish6. Location and identification of rare or endangered fish species7. Systems topography and traditional fishing spots8. Division of labour in fisheries
Potential ApplicationsJude Mathooko in Hydrobologia
Explicitly acknowledge existence and value of
TLEK Understand value to knowledge holders and
create co-operative management Investigate why western science and
traditional knowledge do not agree
Principles of Incorporating TLEK
1. Awareness2. Discussion3. Co-managment4. Surveying use of TLEK
Recommendations
Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans
Management Program Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy Aboriginal Funds for Species at Risk
Program Pacific Intergrated Commercial Fisheries
Initiative
Inclusion of TLEK by DFO
Monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness
of these and similar initiatives Traditional knowledge is a useful tool for both
increased information for fisheries conservation and management and the inclusion of local knowledge holders in resource management planning
Conclusions
Aybes & Yalden (1995). Place-name evidence for the former distribution and status of wolves and beavers in
Britain. Mamm. Rev. 25(4): 201-226.
Cox, Maehr & Larkin (2002). The Biogeography of Faunal Place Names in the United States. Conserv.Biol. 16(4): 1143-1150.
Danko, Jean Francois. 1998. Building a Reliable Database from a Native Oral Tradition Using Fish-Related Terms from the Saanich Language. In UBC Fisheries Centre Research Reports. Edited by D. Pauly, T.J. Pitcher and D. Preikshot. Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. pp. 29-33.
DFO Website: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/abor-autoc/agreements-ententes-eng.htm
Mathooko, Jude Mutuku (2005). Application of traditional ecological knowledge in the management and sustainability of fisheries in East Africa: a long-neglected strategy? Hydrobiologia 537(1): 1 – 6
Montler, Timothy. 1991. Saanich, north straits Salish classified word list. Canadian Ethnology Service Paper No. 119, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, p. 171.
Murray, Carol. (2011). Incorporation of traditional and local ecological knowledge and values in fisheries management. Canadian Electronic Library (Firm); ESSA Technologies (Firm); Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council.
Wallace, Scott, S. 1998. Sources of Information Used to Create Past and Present Ecosystem Models of the Strait of Georgia. In UBC Fisheries Centre Research Reports. Edited by D. Pauly, T.J. Pitcher and D. Preikshot. Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. pp. 19-21.
References
Questions