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Using local ecological knowledge (LEK) to provide insight on the tuna purse seine fleets of the Indian Ocean useful for management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2008

Gala Moreno ,
Laurent Dagorn ,
Gorka Sancho ,
Dorleta García  and
David Itano
Gala Moreno
Affiliation:
AZTI – Tecnalia / Unidad de Investigación Marina, Txatxarramendi Ugartea z/g, 48395 Sukarrieta, Spain
Laurent Dagorn
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), CRH, BP 171, 911 avenue J. Monnet, 34203 Sète Cedex, France
Gorka Sancho
Affiliation:
College of Charleston, Grice Marine Laboratory, 205 Fort Johnson, Charleston, SC 29412, USA
Dorleta García
Affiliation:
AZTI – Tecnalia / Unidad de Investigación Marina, Txatxarramendi Ugartea z/g, 48395 Sukarrieta, Spain
David Itano
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Pelagic Fisheries Research Program, 1000 Pope Road, MSB 312, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
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Abstract

The purse seine fishery in the Western Indian Ocean is dominated by Spanish and French vessels that rely heavily on the use of drifting fish aggregation devices (DFADs) to capture tropical tuna species (skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna). This study uses local ecological knowledge (LEK) obtained through standardized interviews of fishing masters to compare and characterize the body of local ecological knowledge, fishing technology and fishing strategies of both fleets, with the goal of obtaining useful information for the management of the fishery. A notable difference between fleets was the number of DFADs actively monitored per vessel at any given time, which was much higher for Spanish vessels (ca. 60 versus 20 DFADs). Spanish vessels also achieved higher vessel CPUE (catch per DFAD set) than their French counterparts. The use of supply vessels to manage, monitor and protect productive DFADs, and the latest satellite-based technology to track and remotely monitor DFAD aggregations is restricted to the Spanish fleet. The French do not use supply vessels and deploy less sophisticated tracking buoys. These technological disparities resulted in some fishing strategy differences between both fleets, but few differences were found in the knowledge of tuna behavior accumulated by the fishers.

Keywords

LEKFisher knowledgeDrifting fish aggregating deviceFADfloating objectsFishing strategyTuna behavior
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 20 , Issue 4: Fish Aggregating Devices as Instrumented Observatories of Pelagic Ecosystems , October 2007 , pp. 367 - 376
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2008

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