Fishers’ Perspectives: the Drivers Behind the Decline in Fish Catch in Laguna Lake, Philippines

Aquatic ecosystems are strongly affected by global change. Fishers hold local ecological knowledge (LEK) that is especially relevant for improving our understanding of aquatic ecosystems that experience major environmental changes while also providing crucial ecosystem services. This research explores the perceptions of the ecological changes in Laguna Lake (Philippines) among local fisherfolks. In 2019, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with fisherfolks with up to 60 years' experience. They reported catching 31 fish species and one shrimp genus as a staple food and income source, with more than one-third of the species being exotic or introduced. The fisherfolks noted repeated fish kill events and dramatic changes in their catch such as fewer and smaller fish. Also noticeable were the widespread catch of knifefish, a comparably newly introduced species, and the fact that all native fish species were reported to be less often caught now than in the past. This included the reduced catch of talilong (mullet), dalag (snakehead), and ayungin (silver perch). Locals emphasized various drivers behind these changes, which are linked to one another in complex interrelationships. Invasive species, the deterioration of fish habitats, and increased water turbidity were cited as the main drivers. Interviewees highlighted an additional link between declining catches and the loss of aquatic plant diversity, which has been understudied in Laguna Lake and has not been the focus of regional policy efforts. The empirical evidence provided by the fisherfolks enhances earlier existing scientific evidence of this aquatic ecosystem as well as highlights the importance of contributions coming from different knowledge systems

“Wild fish are a blessing”: changes in fishing practices and folk fish cuisine around Laguna Lake, Northern Philippines

Several coastal communities rely heavily on wild-caught fish for personal consumption and their livelihoods, thus being sensitive to the rapid global change affecting fish availability. However, in the last century, aquaculture has been increasingly adopted. To understand the uses and changes of wild-caught fish, we conducted 30 semistructured interviews with fishers of Laguna Lake, Philippines. Fishermen, with up to 60 years’ experience, reported catching 31 fish species as a staple food. The taxa with the greatest variety of food uses were the farmed Oreochromis aureus, and the wild Channa striata and Cyprinus carpio. Fish was boiled, fried, grilled and dried, and over 20 different local dishes were reported. Fishers reported that local communities previously relied more on wild fish, while today a greater proportion of consumed fish comes from aquaculture fish species such as Oreochromis aureus and Hypophthalmichthys nobilis. Wild fish remains a crucial aspect of local gastronomic diversity, underpinning the biodiversity of the Laguna Lake, while also representing an important element for food sovereignty. The study stresses the need to sustain local ecological knowledge to ensure the ecological, social and economic sustainability of the communitie

Medicinal plant use at the beginning of the 21st century among the religious minority in Latgale region, Latvia

Background: As identified by scholars, even when communities co-habit the same natural environment, there may be visible differences due to cultural factors, and thus local knowledge on medicinal plants evolves along with the culture. This paper addresses the complexity of medicinal plant use across different social groups situated in the same natural environment with a focus on a distinct religious minority: Old Believers. Methods: This paper covers ethnobotanical data from 27 villages and populated areas in Dagda Municipality of Latgale, Latvia. The region is highly diverse, especially in terms of language and ethnic groups. In total, seventy-three interviewees were interviewed, of which nineteen represented Old Believers. Results: The number of used taxa among Old Believers (40 taxa) was half of that used by the other local community members such as Latgalians (81) and the multi-ethnic group (77). Because of the scarcity of available materials on plant uses by Old Believers, we speculate that religious characteristics such as self-isolation from other cultures might be one of the reasons for such a difference. On the other hand, historical aspects such as migration and the subsequent need for adaptation to the local flora could also partly explain the low number of medicinal taxa in comparison to the other groups. Conclusions: The study indicates that self-isolation, being a characteristic of Old Believers, potentially plays a role in medicinal plant use. We recommend further research to study in detail aspects of medicinal plant use in self-isolated communities within highly literate societies

Words matter: a systematic review of communication in non-native aquatic species literature

How scientists communicate can influence public viewpoints on invasive species. In the scientific litera-ture, some invasion biologists adopt neutral language, while others use more loaded language, for example by emphasizing the devastating impacts of invasive species and outlining consequences for policy and practice. An evaluation of the use of language in the invasion biology literature does not exist, preventing us from understanding which frames are used and whether there are correlations between message framing in scientific papers and local environmental impacts associated with invasive species. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature review of 278 peer-reviewed articles published from 2008-2018 to understand communication styles adopted by social and natural scientists while reporting on aquatic non-native spe-cies research. Species-centered frames (45%) and human-centered frames (55%) were adopted to nearly equal degrees. Negative valence was dominant in that 81.3% of articles highlighted the negative risks and impacts of invasive species. Additionally, the use of terminology was found to broadly align with the stage of invasion, in that "invasive" was most commonly used except when the research was conducted at early stages of invasion, when "non-native" was most commonly used. Terminology use therefore enables readers of scientific papers to infer the status and severity of ongoing invasions. Given that science communication within the peer-reviewed literature affects public understanding of research outcomes, these findings provide an important point of reflection for researchers

‘Do you care about the river?’ A critical discourse analysis and lessons for management of social conflict over Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) conservation in the case of voluntary stocking in Wales

1. Stakeholders with shared interests in fish conservation often disagree about which specific conservation measures are appropriate, leading to conflicts with sometimes long‐lasting and disruptive social and political effects. Managers are challenged to balance opposing stakeholder preferences with their own mandates in a charged environment. Using the 2014 termination of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) stocking in Wales as a case, we conducted a critical discourse analysis of interview data, online print media, social media and policy documents to examine conflict and its mechanisms over time. The data sources represented four discourse planes: the social, media, social media and policy planes. We report five key findings: 2. The conflict around salmon stocking took place in three stages, beginning with a negotiated, manifest conflict that escalated during the 2014 policy process that terminated stocking, creating a persistent spin‐off conflict. 3. The stocking debate was shaped by two discourse coalitions promoting either pro‐ or anti‐hatchery arguments, and an emerging third coalition advocating for compromise. The coalitions disagreed on the effectiveness of stocking, the status of the salmon stock and had different management goals, revealing that the proor anti‐stocking debate was caused by complex, intertwined and partly opposing beliefs and values. 4. Different elements of the discourses emerged on different planes and arguments were mobile across the planes over time, explaining how selected key arguments were able to persist, gain dominance, re‐appear over time, thus dynamically fuelling and (re)shaping the conflict. 5. The policy change decision to terminate stocking in Wales institutionalized antistocking discourses. It forced all stakeholder groups to acquiesce to one perspective of stocking, creating a win‐lose situation for some stakeholders.6. The handling and result of the policy change led to the alienation of some stakeholder groups. Ecological management goals were achieved in the short term, but the acrimonious and yet‐unsettled social side effects affected the long‐term relationships and may negatively impact future conservation issues in the area. 7. We conclude that transdisciplinary active management designed for joint learning about stocking trade‐offs may be a suitable alternative to the ‘either‐or’ outcomes observed in Wales that fostered sustained stakeholder conflicts instead of joint production of knowledge and understanding

Values, beliefs, norms, and conservation-oriented behaviors toward native fish biodiversity in rivers : evidence from four European countries

Riverine biodiversity in Europe is under threat from a range of anthropogenic factors. Key to effective biodiversity conservation is the public's willingness to support restoration efforts. Based on value-belief-norm (VBN) theory and using a longitudinal survey design with n = 1,000 respondents per each of four countries (France, Germany, Norway, Sweden) we measured individual conservation-oriented behaviors in natural settings over time (e.g., signing a petition, donating money) that benefit native river fish biodiversity. We also examined sociopsychological determinants of these behaviors. In addition to behavioral intentions and self-reported behaviors, we measured actual behavior (monetary donations). We found broad support for the VBN theory but also relevant cultural diversity. In France, Norway, and Sweden fish value orientations affected conservation-oriented behaviors, whereas in Germany general ecological worldviews had more explanatory power. Conservation-oriented outreach and information campaigns will be most effective when taking between-country differences in the relationship between beliefs and behaviors into account

Wie wichtig sind soziale Netzwerke in Zeiten von Umweltkrisen?

Weltweit werden extreme Wetterereignisse wie Stürme, Dürren und Überschwemmungen immer stärker und treten häufiger auf. Bei der Bewältigung der Auswirkungen solcher Katastrophen sind die Nutzerinnen und Nutzer natürlicher Ressourcen (Fischer*innen, Landwirte und Landwirtinnen) auf Wissen und Unterstützung sowohl von innerhalb und als auch außerhalb ihrer Gemeinschaften angewiesen. Um die Frage zu beantworten, wie man Umweltkatastrophen am Besten übersteht, müssen wir daher herausfinden, welche Verbindungen im Krisenfall besonders hilfreich sind. Wir geben Einblicke in zwei Beispiele laufender Forschungsarbeiten, welche die Rolle sozialer Netzwerke bei der Bewältigung von Naturkatastrophen in Peru und Bangladesch untersuchen. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Anzahl und die Vielfalt der Verbindungen für die Krisenbewältigung entscheidend sind. Dies macht deutlich, dass die Art und Weise, wie soziale Netzwerke die individuellen und gemeinschaftlichen Reaktionen auf Umweltauswirkungen beeinflussen, weiter erforscht werden muss

How Important are Social Networks in Times of Environmental Crises?

Around the globe, extreme weather events like storms, droughts and floods get stronger and hit more often. In their struggle to overcome the impacts of such disasters, natural resource users (fishers, farmers) depend on knowledge and support coming from both within and outside their communities. To answer the question 'how to cope with crises?', we therefore have to find out 'whom to turn to when disasters hit'. We provide insights into two examples of ongoing research that investigate the role of fishers and farmers’ social networks when dealing with and recovering from environmental disasters that brought drastic change to their respective communities in Peru and Bangladesh. Our findings indicate that the number and diversity of connections is crucial for coping with crises, and suggest the need for further research on the ways social networks are shaping individual and community responses to environmental impacts

Values, Beliefs, Norms, and Conservation-Oriented Behaviors toward Native Fish Biodiversity in Rivers: Evidence from Four European Countries

Riverine biodiversity in Europe is under threat from a range of anthropogenic factors. Key to effective biodiversity conservation is the public’s willingness to support restoration efforts. Based on value-belief-norm (VBN) theory and using a longitudinal survey design with n ¼ 1,000 respondents per each of four countries (France, Germany, Norway, Sweden) we measured individual conservation-oriented behaviors in natural settings over time (e.g., signing a petition, donating money) that benefit native river fish biodiversity. We also examined sociopsychological determinants of these behaviors. In addition to behavioral intentions and self-reported behaviors, we measured actual behavior (monetary donations). We found broad support for the VBN theory but also relevant cultural diversity. In France, Norway, and Sweden fish value orientations affected conservation-oriented behaviors, whereas in Germany general ecological worldviews had more explanatory power. Conservation-oriented outreach and information campaigns will be most effective when taking between-country differences in the relationship between beliefs and behaviors into account. Conservation psychology; human-nature relationship; longitudinal study; multinational survey; native river biodiversity; nonnative fishes; proenvironmental behavior; structural equation modeling; valuebelief-norm mode

¿Qué importancia tienen las redes sociales en tiempos de crisis ambiental?

En todo el mundo, los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos, como las tormentas, las sequías y las inundaciones, son cada vez más fuertes y frecuentes. En su lucha por superar los impactos de estos desastres, los usuarios de los recursos naturales (pescadores, agricultores) dependen de los conocimientos y del apoyo que les llega tanto desde dentro como fuera de sus comunidades. Para responder a la pregunta "¿cómo afrontar las crisis?", hay que saber «a quién acudir en caso de catástrofe». Aportamos información sobre dos ejemplos de investigaciones en curso que estudian el rol de las redes sociales de pescadores y agricultores a la hora de afrontar y recuperarse de catástrofes medioambientales que provocaron cambios drásticos en sus respectivas comunidades en Perú y Bangladesh. Nuestras conclusiones indican que el número y la diversidad de las conexiones son cruciales para afrontar las crisis, y sugieren la necesidad de seguir investigando sobre las formas en que las redes sociales configuran las respuestas individuales y comunitarias a los impactos ambientales