Need for Historical Knowledge for Using Current Knowledge

Abstract

"I come to this discussion of the challenges associated with generating agreement among scientists and others on what is happening to the fish from more than a decade of research on fish harvesters knowledge and science in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Unlike Doug, my work is less rooted in experiences with participatory management (which are few and far between in this part of the world) than in seeking to understand stock collapses in state-managed fisheries. In the beginning, I worked by myself, talking to harvesters, exploring why some disagreed with stock assessment science for northern cod in the 1980s. Since then I have worked in interdisciplinary teams involving social and natural scientists and we have gone on to compare and contrast fish harvesters ecological knowledge and science in multiple fisheries."