The role of local ecological knowledge in the conservation and management of reef fish spawning aggregations

摘要: Knowledge of the existence, location and timing of reef fish spawning aggregations is largely obtained from Local Ecological Knowledge in the fishing communities that exploit, or once exploited them. This information is typically collected by interviewing, followed, ideally, by validation by visiting and surveying reported aggregation sites. Conducting interviews is a relatively simple process that can be extremely productive but only if the interviewees are engaged and selected carefully (by gear, location, age, etc.), the interviewer is knowledgeable, prepared and gains the respect of the interviewee, and the various limitations of interviews as a source of information are clearly understood. Moreover, to ensure that information cannot potentially be misused and can be effectively applied to management and conservation, it is important that it is not only validated, and shared and communicated appropriately, but …