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- Anne
Godwin
- Fogo Island
Co-operative Society Ltd.
- Fogo Island,
Newfoundland
Issues Position Paper on
Ecological Knowledge
Over the past four years I have
worked on several projects with Innovative Ideas Inc. a
non-profit organization with the Fogo Island Co-operative
Society Limited on Fogo Island. The work that I was involved
with was mostly gathering Ecological Knowledge from local
fishers. My paper will be based on my own experiences with
what we called Traditional Ecological Knowledge
(TEK).
Ecological Knowledge to me is the
information obtained from local people who have lived in a
specific area for many years. These people have information
that has been passed down to them from many generations. The
people who we interviewed had information which could not be
obtained through any other way. This information came from
life experience and from observing the land, sea and air
without the advancement of today's technology.
One of the projects that I worked
on with a group of people was a fisheries database. This
database was done in conjunction with the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans (Science Branch).The finished project
consisted of 12 case studies of local fisheries over a 25 to
30 year period. The project looked at the size of boats over
the years, type and amount of gear used, the areas fished,
the by-catch, the bait in the area etc. The information
gathered backed up what the fishers had been saying for
years, the stocks were in serious trouble. The information
had been given before but had never been documented. Some
problems we encountered with this information was that
people wondered how valid the information really was. This
was a unique database because there was only one buyer of
fish on Fogo Island and that was the Fogo Island
Co-operative Society Ltd and all the landings were recorded
there and most of the fishers had keep some sort of diary.
This made the information very valid.
Another project that I had worked
on was still in conjunction with The Department of Fisheries
and Oceans (Science Branch) and that was a Coastal Marine
Inventory for Fogo Island this document included what Fogo
Island had with regards to resources and how we could use
them to insure the Island could survive with the downturn in
the Northern Cod. Most of the traditional land use had to
come from people who had lived and worked on the land and
the sea. One problem we encountered there was we needed to
have several people say the same thing about a certain area
so it could be documented without errors to make the
information reliable. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans
have since put together a model to be used to document
Coastal Marine Inventories. This is to insure all
information gathered can be used into one large database and
everyone will have access. The problem this solved was the
duplication of funding to do the same project was depleted,
we now knew what was being done and the types of information
that was being gathered.
The way of reconciling differences
between scientific and experienced-based ecological
knowledge system is to have both sides work in conjunction
with each other because we need both sides of the
information to make it valid. We have to stop placing blame
on one individual group and bring all our energies together
to make the resources sustainable. The scientific side has
to consider what the users are saying and the users have to
be able to look at the scientific side this will only happen
through an educational and awareness campaign. Some users
feel that what they know is of no value and they are
basically afraid of the scientific part of it because they
feel they will loose their way of life and ability to feed
their families. We have to bridge the gap between both
groups because the end result is basically the same
"sustainability".
There has been several projects
dealing with TEK that have taken place through out the place
through out the province and I believe the information
gathered can be used with the scientific finding to help all
groups involved. Some of the weaknesses that I see is the
fact that some of the information gathered from local people
is never used and that makes them wonder why the information
was taken. The information sits on shelves collecting dust
and the money spent on it could have been used for something
else. This then makes the locals mistrust the people
collecting the information. The strengths of this sort of
published literature is that it can be used by the locals
and the scientist to learn from past mistakes of exploiting
our natural resources.
The design of the eco-knowledge
research, there should be a set standard so that all the
information gathered will have a structure that can be used
by everyone and is accessible to everyone. There may have to
be a few areas that will change due to the local area, some
things will have to be molded to a specific area. The basic
information will remain the same, but you may be able to add
to the database as different information becomes available.
We have a Sentential Fishery which is a test fishery for
Northern Cod and as the information becomes available it can
be compared to the previous years landings.
The Methodological issues,
challenges and needs: These will have to meet the areas
specific need. The challenges facing us with TEK is getting
the users and the regulators to understand each other. They
seem to be at different ends of the boxing ring, but the
prize is the same. The biggest need there is in my local
community is to get all the people to work together. The
area can each have different idea but they are all fighting
for the same end result.
Observations concerning the
ecological knowledge and the natural resource management
policy. The users have to become stewards of the resource
and take care of it. If you talk to the local fishers in my
area they all know something has to be done to conserve the
resource but some do not want it done in their back yard.
The biggest problem is trying to convince them that one
person can make a difference and when one person begins it
will only take a little time for others to follow,( i.e.
V-notching lobsters was started in some areas with
regulations but some areas took the imitative to start it on
their own. This to me is taking ownership for a resource
that is shared by many, owned by no one).
Observations on how ecological
knowledge might change relationship between resource users
and resource regulators: The users have to have a say on
their future, but they also need facts from the scientific
community to enable them to see what is going on. The local
people see the regulations after they have been implemented
and then they figure the system is out to destroy them and
there way of life . They don't really understand that if
there are no regulations and restrictions on these resources
the resources will not be there for future generations to
use. There is an area where both or all sectors can work
together without the fear of the other side winning out over
the other. The users are afraid of the regulators and the
regulators are not really in touch with the users. We all
have to get out there together and build sustainable
resource where we are all users and regulators.
Specific design and methodological
recommendations: I like the design that Department of
Fisheries and Oceans here in Newfoundland have but I don't
know if it will work for all areas of the world. With
Coastal Zone Management I believe a whole new approach will
need to be implemented to be used world wide with a few
modifications for each area.
Some recommendations that I
would make concerning the research would be as
follows:
- Start with public meeting to
see what the local people want then consult with the
regulators to see what they have to
offer.
- Help start an awareness
campaign, EDUCATION goes along way.
- Get the group together to
put their concerns on paper, some of the people have a
lot to saw but they feel intimidated by
crowds.
- Let the local people decide
what is the best ways of doing this. This way it will be
their document And they will take pride because they made
a difference.
- The people of the areas have
a lot to say and they need to have people listen.
" We have to work together
because we are not owners of the resource, we only borrowed
it from our children"
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