Onde o rio encontra o mar: sobreposições parciais entre duas onto-epistemologias - Estudos sobre os conhecimentos biológicos e ecológicos da Comunidade Pesqueira de Siribinha, Bahia

Abstract

In conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity approaches, proposals of integration between academic and indigenous and local knowledge have been common. Research in ethnoecology and ethnobiology acquire central importance in such integration proposals, as well as in dialogue initiatives, since they enable us to understand how local communities comprehend organisms and ecosystems. This makes it possible to mobilize potentially important knowledge in the conservation of biodiversity, but also to create more favorable conditions for these communities to have a voice and participate in conservation decision-making processes. Therefore, in this Dissertation we discuss potentialities and limitations of the dialogue between knowledge systems and knowledge co-production processes in Siribinha, an artisanal fishing community on the northern coast of Bahia. Siribinha, like other fishing communities in Brazil, suffers from various environmental, social and economic threats. Faced with these threats, it is important to carry out studies that document the bodies of knowledge and practices of fishers, thus contributing to the preservation of their identity, as well as for the recognition of their contribution to biodiversity conservation. Therefore, we discuss the need for them to have a voice in conservation decisions, especially in their territories. Thus, the present study seeks to analyze the local knowledge of fishers from Siribinha about biological and ecological aspects of the fish they interact with, as well as the local taxonomy related to these organisms. We sought to build an understanding of their knowledge systems and practices, which can inform the establishment of dialogic processes between artisanal fisheries and scientific-academic knowledge systems in the field of conservation and sustainable use of resources. In order to do so, we used methods such as free listing, semi-structured interviews and triad task. Our results show that the community has a great knowledge about fish (with 197 ethnospecies recorded, of which 33 were considered by the interviewees as salient). However, we found an intracultural diversity in the way fish are classified by the members of the community, which requires caution when making assumptions that it would have a unique model in this regard, which would constitute a cultural consensus. We also show how the knowledge of artisanal fishers can have a complementary relationship with scientificacademic knowledge, but also bring tensions that need to be addressed through intercultural dialogue. Finally, we show the importance of incorporating indigenous and local knowledge in the formulation of public policies, such as those related to closed fishing seasons. By doing so, we can improve sustainable biodiversity management practices and also contribute to the empowerment of traditional communities and indigenous peoples.