Tropical mullet overexploitation detected by conventional fish stock assessment and fishers' knowledge
tropical fish, small-scale fisheries, Mugil, mullet, stock assessment
Small scale fisheries (SSF) represent more than half of the world's fisheries. SSF fishers may provide important information regarding life history traits of their targeted species. Facing good governance principles, the combination of the conventional scientific knowledge (CSK) with the local ecological knowledge (LEK) is key to ensure the SSF management success and the resource sustainability. Regionally important species are key to the socioeconomic sustainability of those fishers, which is the case of Mugilidae in northeast Brazil that are relevant for SSF families income and food security. In this work we used CSK and LEK to assess stocks of the main tropical South Atlantic mullet species, evaluating how both information can be used for conservation and management purposes. For CSK we made monthly collections of each species for a year, recorded mullet landings and used models based on life history parameters. For LEK we interviewed 34 mullet fishers on the species bioecology and landscape knowledge, checking for information overlap. Both sources of knowledge indicated high fishing pressure, identifying two stocks overexploited and one at its maximum sustainable yield. The management of such small-scale fisheries might be directly benefited from understanding fisher’s perceptions in addition to CSK, improving fisheries governance and the effectiveness on stakeholders dialog towards effective outputs.