Fishing in the dark-local knowledge, night spearfishing and spawning aggregations in the Western Solomon Islands

摘要: Within the marine conservation community there is considerable interest in combining local knowledge and science to achieve management objectives. Yet there remain few studies which have examined the merits and caveats of local knowledge, or shown how combining both knowledge systems has resulted in better management outcomes. This study outlines collaborative efforts to conserve fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) in Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. Baseline information on FSAs was obtained through local knowledge and spearfishing creel surveys. This information provided the starting point for establishing a 2-year community-based underwater monitoring program at the largest known FSA in Roviana Lagoon, where the brown-marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus), camouflage grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion) and squaretail coralgrouper (Plectropomus areolatus) co …