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Fishers’ ecological knowledge of sawfishes in Lake Piso, Liberia
Author(s) -
Leeney R.H.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/aqc.2542
Subject(s) - respondent , endangered species , geography , population , ecology , fishery , socioeconomics , demography , biology , sociology , political science , law
A lack of recent data on the presence of sawfishes throughout West Africa inhibits the development of conservation strategies for these endangered elasmobranchs. Short interviews were conducted with 32 fishermen around Lake Piso, Liberia, over three days to assess whether this region might still support a population of sawfishes. Just over half of all interviewees recognized the image of a sawfish and had seen at least one in their lifetime. No respondent claimed to have frequently caught or observed sawfishes in the past, and few fishermen appeared to know if sawfishes were even edible. Seven fishermen stated that they had seen or caught a sawfish within the last five years. The cultural importance attributed to sawfishes in other parts of West Africa was not apparent among the interviewees. These findings suggest that if sawfishes are still present in Lake Piso, they are rare and local ecological knowledge of these fishes is declining. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.