Publications

@article{Silvano2020,
title = {Participatory Research with Fishers to Improve Knowledge on Small-Scale Fisheries in Tropical Rivers},
author = {Renato Azevedo Matias Silvano and Gustavo Hallwass},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114487},
doi = {10.3390/su12114487},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-06-01},
journal = {Sustainability},
volume = {12},
number = {11},
pages = {4487},
abstract = {Freshwater small-scale fisheries sustain millions of livelihoods worldwide, but a lack of monitoring makes it difficult to check the sustainability of these fisheries. We aim to compare and describe participatory research methods used in studies with fishers in the Tapajos River, a poorly known tropical river in the Brazilian Amazon. We address three interview approaches, two ways to do fisheries monitoring and two approaches for georeferenced mapping based on fishers’ knowledge, which can provide data about at least 16 topics related to fisheries. We highlight major advantages and shortcomings of these methods and illustrate their potential with examples of results on fisheries and fish biology of Peacock bass (Cichla spp. tucunaré in Brazil), an important commercial fish in the Brazilian Amazon. The interviews, participatory monitoring and mapping revealed which fish are more valued by local communities, how fish abundance and sizes varied over time, when fish are more often caught and show reproductive activity, and which sites or habitats fish need to reproduce. In addition to providing useful data from many sites in a cost-effective way, participatory methods can bring the additional benefit of including local stakeholders in the monitoring, management, and research activities.},
keywords = {abundance trends, Brazilian Amazon, fisheries management, fisheries monitoring, fisheries sustainability, interviews, mapping, Peacock bass, Tapajos River},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{Runde2020,
title = {Fishers' Knowledge Indicates Extensive Socioecological Impacts Downstream of Proposed Dams in a Tropical River},
author = {Anne Runde and Gustavo Hallwass and Renato A.M. Silvano
},
url = {https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30093-2},
doi = {10.1016/j.oneear.2020.02.012},
issn = {2590-3330},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-03-12},
journal = {One Earth},
volume = {2},
number = {3},
abstract = {Brazil's hydroelectricity sector is rapidly expanding, and several dams are planned in Amazonian rivers. The impacts on the fisheries downstream of the dams have largely been overlooked by official impact assessments. Here, we gather fishery baseline data from interviews with 171 fishers in 16 communities along a ∼275-km stretch of the Tapajos River, located downstream of a proposed dam. The results indicate that fishing constitutes a key source of food and income for fishers and their communities and that the impact of the dam on the fisheries will potentially extend much further than the officially recognized affected area. By ignoring the effects of the dams on downstream communities, impact assessments have severely underestimated the number of people who would be affected by the dams. Therefore, a thorough evaluation of downstream fishers needs to be conducted prior to river impoundment and be considered by development plans.},
keywords = {Amazon Basin, fisheries sustainability, fishing sites, food security, hydroelectric development, interviews, local ecological knowledge, small-scale fisheries, socioecological systems, Tapajos River},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}