Local voices: grounding a reason to solve for the missing piece of our ‘great disconnect'

A close look at fishermen’s local ecological knowledge brings us closer to how their knowledge influences the quality of life, well-being, and the resilience of our coastal communities (Garcia Quijano 2009).  A study in collaboration with scientists from Fisheries, Anthropology departments took place at the University of Rhode Island. The data consists of over 10 hours of interview recorded during 3 focus-group meetings, where  a facilitator guided the discussion on lobster fishermen’s local ecological knowledge.

The purpose of the study is to assess fishermen’s local ecological knowledge and to analyze the relationship that exists between local voices and their environment, and how understanding these voices we draw closer to conserving and protecting our environments.
The information gathered constitutes, field notes and transcriptions analyzed using coding to identify themes, units knowledge and meanings; followed by reformulation and mapping to construct models of understandings.

Initial findings bring to the forefront the power and value of the voices local people: their knowledge on ecology, biology of lobsters and their habitats, as well as fishermen’s interactions with other fishermen, scientists and managers.

We cannot underestimate the value of local ecological knowledge and its timeliness as it captures social and cultural aspects of fishers and how they respond to changes and the dynamics of their local communities. Our contention is that through the integration of local ecological knowledge we promote an ecosystem base management approach to safeguarding our natural environments, and that alternatively, by not listening to their voices, our unsustainable trends will persist.