Integrating Traditional And Local Ecological Knowledge Into Fisheries Management In Africa: Application In Nigeria

1. Integrating Traditional And Local Ecological Knowledge Into Fisheries Management In Africa: Application In Nigeria Prof Yemi Akegbejo-Samsons University of Agriculture Dept of Aquaculture & Fisheries Management, PMB 2240 Abeokuta, Nigeria EMAIL: samsons56@yahoo.co.uk

2. Abstract ?Over the past twenty years, increasing attention has been paid to the potential and real benefits regarding the use of local ecological knowledge (LEK) in fisheries science and management. ?Methodological concerns have been raised regarding the disciplinary boundaries between social scientists and natural scientists, who are responsible for fisheries science and management. ?Local ecological knowledge has been presented as a panacea for fisheries management in troubled times. ?With all the benefits LEK is claimed to provide for fisheries science and management it would be expected that a full understanding of the nature of LEK, its attributes and characteristics be well understood.

3. Focus of this paper This paper looks at the application of LEK in Africa in general and in Nigeria in particular. Nigeria like other developing countries lack the scientific power, the modern-day technics and technology to adequately collect and manage sustainable data for effective (local, national and regional) fisheries management. The role of the local stakeholders in fisheries development and management can�t be underestimated in Africa, and the need for participatory development in the fisheries sector has long been advocated in Nigeria. In this paper, the role of LEK and the scientific/ environmental benefits in the developing economies like Nigeria are presented and discussed. Modalities for its application are presented.

4. LEK in Literature There are no shortages of definitions of LEK in the literature. The International Council for Science and the ICSU ? (1) LEK is a cumulative body of locally contextualized knowledge, know-how, practices, and beliefs maintained by oral transmission from generation to generation and (2) LEK is part and parcel of a cultural complex and cosmology that encompasses language, naming, classification systems, and spiritual ceremonies and protocols.

5. LEK in Literature�.2 Local, old but collectively useful Traditional but rooted in practice

6. LEK in perspective The rapid development of traditional ecological knowledge as a field in its own right started with the documentation of ? a tremendously rich body of environmental knowledge, ? not just of species but also their ecological relations, ? among a diversity of groups outside the mainstream Western world.

7. LEK in perspective�.2 These included studies of shifting cultivation and biodiversity conservation in tropical ecosystems, and traditional knowledge and management systems in coastal fisheries and lagoons, semi-arid areas, and the Arctic. These studies showed that a variety of traditional peoples, in diverse geographical areas from the Arctic to the Amazon, had their own understandings of ecological relationships and distinct traditions of resource management.