Participatory Research with Fishers to Improve Knowledge on Small-Scale Fisheries in Tropical Rivers

Abstract

Freshwater small-scale fisheries sustain millions of livelihoods worldwide, but a lack of monitoring makes it difficult to check the sustainability of these fisheries. We aim to compare and describe participatory research methods used in studies with fishers in the Tapajos River, a poorly known tropical river in the Brazilian Amazon. We address three interview approaches, two ways to do fisheries monitoring and two approaches for georeferenced mapping based on fishers’ knowledge, which can provide data about at least 16 topics related to fisheries. We highlight major advantages and shortcomings of these methods and illustrate their potential with examples of results on fisheries and fish biology of Peacock bass (Cichla spp. tucunaré in Brazil), an important commercial fish in the Brazilian Amazon. The interviews, participatory monitoring and mapping revealed which fish are more valued by local communities, how fish abundance and sizes varied over time, when fish are more often caught and show reproductive activity, and which sites or habitats fish need to reproduce. In addition to providing useful data from many sites in a cost-effective way, participatory methods can bring the additional benefit of including local stakeholders in the monitoring, management, and research activities.