Local ecological knowledge concurs with fishing statistics: An example from the abalone fishery in Baja California, Mexico

The use of local ecological knowledge (LEK) to assess species status has been controversial among marine scientists. While some consider this to be one of the few historical tools available to understand the extent of change that has occurred in marine animal populations and ecosystems with a long-term historical perspective, others believe fishers tend to exaggerate catches and that their memories cannot be considered a reliable source of information to assess species at risk of extinction. This study compares long-term fishery data on catches with fishers' memories in the abalone (Haliotis spp) fishery from Baja California, Mexico. Results show that historical landings and fishers' memories strongly concur in the history of how this fishery has collapsed over the last 60 years. Pearson correlation analysis between both sets of data reports a value of 0.75, showing a high correlation (p <0.0001), adding evidence to the increasing literature on the importance of local ecological knowledge to understand species' trends in marine ecosystems. As with any other proxy of population abundance, fishers' ecological knowledge gives an imperfect but informed trend on the status of marine species that should not be discarded by our own bias that ecological data always produces accurate estimations.