Media publish release on local ecological knowledge in fisheries
Phys.org, EurekAlert and ScienceDaily carried a University of Maine news release about a study on the role of local ecological knowledge held by Maine fishermen and how they apply it to fisheries management. The study was a collaboration between Joshua Stoll, an assistant research professor of marine policy at UMaine and cooperating scientist at the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, Emily Farr, a recent graduate of Yale University, and Christine Beitl, an assistant professor of anthropology at UMaine. The results show that the more diverse a fisherman’s activity, the broader the scope of their knowledge is. Fishing for more species requires interaction with more features of the ocean and results in a more holistic understanding of the dynamics of the marine environment, the release states. The presence of local ecological knowledge is declining as specialization increases. A more flexible licensing system allowing fishermen to shift between fisheries could help conserve local ecological knowledge, according to Stoll.