133 Neotropical Ichthyology, 10(1): 133-147, 2012 Copyright © 2012 Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia Fishermen’s local ecological knowledge on Southeastern Brazilian coastal fishes: contributions to research, conservation, and management Renato A. M. Silvano 1,4 and Alpina Begossi 2,3,4 We analyzed fishermen’s local ecological knowledge (LEK) about the feeding habits, trophic interactions, habitats, fishing grounds, migration, and reproduction of nine coastal fishes in Búzios Island, southeastern Brazilian coast. We interviewed 39 fishermen using standardized questionnaires. Fishermen’s LEK on habitat use and trophic interactions for the studied fishes agreed with the scientific literature, allowing the organization of reef and pelagic food webs. The interviewed fishermen mentioned that submerged rock formations would be important habitats for some large commercial fishes, such as Seriola spp., Caranx latus and Epinephelus marginatus. In some instances there was no scientific data to be compared with fishermen’s LEK, and thus this kind of knowledge would be the only available source of information, such as for reproduction and migration of most of the studied fishes. We suggest herein ways to apply fishermen’s LEK to develop and improve fisheries management measures, such as zoning of marine space, marine protected areas, and closed fishing seasons. Fishermen’s LEK may be an important and feasible support to fisheries management and co-management. Analisamos o conhecimento ecológico local (CEL) dos pescadores sobre os hábitos alimentares, interações tróficas, habitats, locais de pesca, migração e reprodução de nove peixes costeiros na Ilha de Búzios, litoral sudeste do Brasil. Entrevistamos 39 pescadores, utilizando questionários padronizados. As informações sobre uso do habitat e interações tróficas entre os peixes estudados com base no CEL dos pescadores foram condizentes com a literatura científica, permitindo a organização de teias tróficas para os habitats recifal e pelágico. Os pescadores entrevistados mencionaram que formações de rochas submersas seriam habitats importantes para alguns peixes comerciais de grande porte, como Seriola spp., Caranx latus e Epinephelus marginatus. Em algumas circunstâncias, não haviam dados biológicos para serem comparados com o CEL dos pescadores, que, portanto seria a única fonte disponível de informação, por exemplo sobre a reprodução e migração de vários dos peixes estudados. Sugerimos aqui formas de aplicar o CEL dos pescadores para desenvolver e aprimorar medidas de manejo pesqueiro, como zoneamento do espaço marinho, áreas marinhas protegidas e épocas de defeso da pesca. O CEL dos pescadores pode ser um apoio importante e factível para iniciativas de manejo e co-manejo pesqueiro. Key words: Ethnobiology, Fish behavior, Fish ecology, Human ecology, Small-scale fisheries. 1 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Departamento de Ecologia, CP 15007, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. renato.silvano@ufrgs.br 2 Universidade Santa Cecília/UNISANTA, ECOMAR, 11045-040 Santos, SP, Brazil. 3 Universidade de Campinas, CAPESCA, PREAC & CMU, Rua Sergio Buarque de Holanda 800, Cidade Universitária, CP 6023, 13083- 859, Campinas, SP, Brazil, alpinab@uol.com.br 4 Universidade de Santa Cecília/UNISANTA, Fisheries and Food Institute (FIFO), 11045-040 Santos, SP, Brazil. Introduction In order to deal with increasingly environmental uncertainties and complex, multi-species fisheries, fisheries management should ideally be ecosystem based, adaptive and precautionary, being implemented even if managers have incomplete biological data (Johannes, 1998; Pauly et al., 2002). Many tropical developing countries lack the scientific information needed to manage coastal fisheries. These fisheries may have thus to be managed following a “data less” approach, which includes all available biological data plus inputs from fishermen’s local ecological knowledge (LEK) (Johannes, 1998). Indeed, several studies have been analyzing fisher’s LEK and comparing it with available scientific ecological research; these studies contribute to improve the knowledge about ecology, migration, reproduction, feeding habits, and changes in abundance of a diverse array of fishing resources, ranging from fish to whales (Johannes, 1981; Poizat & Baran, 1997; Johannes et al., 2000; Huntington et al., 2004; Sa’enz-Arroyo et al., 2005; Silvano et al., 2008, 2009). Therefore, studies on fishers’ LEK may be useful to develop new and testable biological hypotheses (Silvano & Valbo-