Local Fisheries Knowledge (LFK)
- LFK is knowledge concerning many aspects of commercial,
subsistence, and recreational marine fishing / harvest,
including the marine environment and species; fishing
culture and society; fishing technology and practices;
and business and economic aspects of fishing.
- LFK is acquired and possessed by those involved on
a day-to-day basis in marine fishing / harvesting and
related activities (e.g., fish processing, boat building,
and fishing gear construction).
- LFK is derived from personal and collective observations
and experiences over a single lifetime or many generations.
- LFK is transmitted orally and through observation.
- LFK can be possessed personally and communally.
- LFK is connected to place and is locally specific.
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Maine herring fishermen.1969. Photo from the
NOAA Photo Library.
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Local Fisheries Knowledge Research
Local fisheries knowledge research is a type of cultural
research. Culture is the shared code of meanings,
conventions and knowledge that lie behind a people’s
way of life. It is the “common sense” of a particular
society. Culture is learned through the acquisition of a language,
through observation, and through experience. Some call these
patterns of life in communities’ socio-cultural systems
(Keesing, Roger. “Theories of Culture”, Annual
Review of Anthropology, Vol. 3, Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews,
Inc, 1974, pg. 82).
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