DOI: 10.5061/dryad.51c59zw8h
title: Local ecological knowledge of fisheries charts decline of sharks in data-poor regions

description: Scientific knowledge is lacking on marine species of economic and
 conservation importance, hindering their sustainable management. Local
 Ecological Knowledge (LEK) has the potential to provide valuable insights
 on large (spatial and temporal) scales, by drawing on the collective
 experiences of those who work closely with the taxa of interest. This
 study explored the status of shark population over time in four countries
 across eastern and southern Arabia (i.e. Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen).
 Results indicate strong declines, with highly experienced fishermen
 reporting greater perceived declines (80%) in the abundance of sharks (in
 general), with mean year of perceived decline starting in the late 1990s
 to early 2000s. For three specific taxa investigated, hammerhead sharks
 (e.g. Sphyrna mokarran) had the greatest mean perceived decline
 (80%), while even the group with the least decline (small carcharhinids)
 had mean perceived declines of 50%. Management measures are urgently
 required in the region to ensure sustainability of historic shark
 fisheries that provide food security and coastal livelihoods (e.g. Yemen
 and Oman), and to prevent regional extinctions (e.g. hammerhead sharks).
 Older and more experienced fishermen who are both; witness to the greatest
 declines and may have local standing and influence could be valuable
 resources in developing more community-based sustainable fisheries,
 especially given the apparent lack of success of formal management
 measures.
description: <b>2.1 Study area</b> The Arabian Peninsula
 lies in the north-western Indian Ocean. Study sites were located in four
 countries on the eastern and southern shores of the peninsula (Figure 1).
 These sites were: 1) the State of Kuwait, 2) Kingdom of Bahrain (both in
 the Gulf), 3) the Sultanate of Oman (coasts on the Gulf of Oman and
 Arabian Sea), and 4) the Republic of Yemen (Arabian Sea, and Gulf of
 Aden).   <b>2.2 Sampling
 design and data collection:</b> Our sampling approach
 was categorized based on Fishers’ experience (i.e. number of years a
 fishermen has been fishing), and country. Fishers’ experience was
 categorized as highly experienced (&gt;40 years of fishing experience
 ), experienced (20-40 years of fishing experience) or less experienced
 (&lt;20 years of fishing experience). For each country,
 sampling sites, were selected based on recommendations from local
 fishermen and governmental officials on local shark landing sites. In
 Yemen, sampling was restricted to three sites within the Governorate of
 Hadhramaut due to security issues and escalating war
 conflict. Official governmental
 permits from each of the study countries and ethical approval (School of
 Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Cambridge) were obtained
 before data collection.  Data collection through interviews were conducted
 from March – June 2013 in Arabic, the native language of all interviewees.
 A pilot study of ten fishermen in Al- mukalla and Qusair (Yemen) was used
 to strengthen and improve the content of the interview used in the main
 study. Interviewed Fishers for the pilot study were not interviewed again
 during the final sampling. A
 pilot group interview was also performed on the first arrival at each
 country. These pilot interviews were performed to learn about the local
 names of shark species at each country, and any specific information
 related to the shark fishery (Figure S2). The group discussions were
 initiated by approaching old, respected and skilled fishermen and asked
 them to identify photographs of sharks, as well as to point out individual
 shark species from landing sites. The average number of participants in
 these group discussions ranged from six to twelve fishermen. None of these
 fishermen were interviewed for the main survey.
 Fishers were
 randomly approached at landing sites, informed of the aims of the
 research, and then asked for their availability and permission for an
 interview. The interview itself was only recorded if the interviewee gave
 consent. Only one fisher per fishing vessel was interviewed to avoid
 pseudo-replication. Subsequent fishers at the same site were then
 interviewed through snowball sampling, where the next fisher was indicated
 by peers (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981). Fishers were interviewed
 independently to avoid influences on their reports from others.
 The questionnaire
 used (Appendix A) was semi-structured with a combination of 40 structured
 and open-ended questions (Cohen and Crabtree 2006). It was designed to
 record basic information on fishers (age, level of experience, main gear
 types) as well as to understand their perception of any change in the
 abundance of shark populations. The interviews also used aiding materials
 (i.e. maps, a measuring tape and pictures of different shark species) to
 assist fishermen in their responses.
description: This file is the raw format of the data, if you needed any
 further information please contact me and I would be happy to explain how
 to use the data file.