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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Co-opting small-scale fishers’ knowledge with scientific data to improve understanding of fish community structures in the Lower Komati River, South Africa

Vuyisile Dlamini https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1462-1775 A B * , Melanie Samson C , Chris Curtis D and Gordon O’Brien https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6273-1288 B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

B School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Mpumalanga, Mbombela, South Africa.

C Department of Sociology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

D Department of Geography, Environmental Management & Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

* Correspondence to: vuyisile.dlamini@ump.ac.za

Handling Editor: Gerry Closs

Marine and Freshwater Research 74(2) 111-124 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF22169
Submitted: 22 August 2022  Accepted: 24 November 2022   Published: 21 December 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context: In developing countries, fish data might be lacking and expensive to collect. Fisher’s local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been identified as important to complement scientific data gaps. However, consensus and divergences between both methods have not been extensively studied.

Aims: This paper compares local fishers’ LEK and scientifically sampled data on fish species composition, ecological preferences, and wellbeing in the Lower Komati River, South Africa.

Methods: Key informant interviews (n = 6), field tracking (n = 5) and participatory mapping (n = 22) were undertaken to capture fishers’ LEK and produce maps showing fishing points. Two science-led fish surveys in six sites were also undertaken between August 2019 and December 2019 by using an electrofishing method.

Key results: The fishers’ LEK and survey data showed similar patterns of occurrence of Micralestes acutidens, Coptodon rendalli, Oreochromis mossambicus and Labeo cylindricus. Comparing fishers’ catch estimates and survey catch showed that there is no significant difference (P > 0.05) in abundance on the two most sampled species by using ANOVA.

Conclusion: Differences between the two methods were observed in assessing the river and fish’s wellbeing.

Implication: The similarities and differences were identified as opportunities for small-scale fisheries and scientists to co-identify ecosystem management strategies that are congruent to the local environment.

Keywords: diversity, ecosystems, fish, fish community structure, fisheries, fishers, freshwater, indigenous knowledge, local ecological knowledge, scientific knowledge.


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