Abstract
Tropical sardines (family Clupeidae) are an important component of many marine fisheries in the Indo-West Pacific region. In Timor-Leste, a small, developing country within this region, ‘sardina’ are some of the more commonly caught and consumed fish. Yet there is little published information from Timor-Leste about the species composition of these fisheries, nor their biology or ecology. We document the knowledge of Timorese fishers on nine locally-distinguished sardine types that contribute to fisheries, and relate these to at least nine species from five species-groups defined by genera or subgenera: four species of ‘Flat-bodied Sardinellas’ (Sardinella subg. Clupeonia spp.), one species of ‘Round-bodied Sardinella’ (Sardinella subg. Sardinella lemuru), two species of ‘Tropical Pilchards’ (Amblygaster spp.) and a ‘Tropical Herring’ species (Herklotsichthys quadrimaculatus), all from the family Clupeidae; and one Dussumieria species from the Dussumieriidae family. We record variations in local sardine names across the country and document aspects of fishers’ knowledge relevant to understanding and managing the fisheries, including local sardine species’ seasonality, habitat, movements, catchability, interannual variation, as well as post-harvest storage and spoilage characteristics. In general, local names relate more closely with groups of species than individual species, although some names also distinguish fish size within species-groups. The local knowledge identified in this study has immediate application to inform fisheries monitoring and management, and to identify areas for future research. Notably, Timorese fishers recognise and make use of the strong association between some sardine species-groups and seasonally turbid river plumes. The underlying mechanisms that result in this association need to be further investigated and understood in order to ensure these important river plume fisheries, upon which fishers’ livelihoods depend, may be sustained rather than disrupted, for example through modification of coastal and catchment processes. Fishers also recognise migratory behaviour of some sardine species, in particular the Flat bodied Sardinellas (S. gibbosa and others) along the north-west coast of Timor-Leste and across the border into Indonesian West Timor. Such insights complicate initiatives for co-management or community-based management of Timor-Leste’s coastal waters and their fisheries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 673173 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-20 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Volume | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 13 May 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank the individual fishers, fish traders, and other community members who generously gave their time to participate in discussions and conversations, and share their knowledge and experience; Adolfo de Carvalho and Leopoldino M. da Concei??o from Bebonuk fishing community for preparing summary notes on sardine types and assisting to verify local knowledge summaries; and Eulalia da Cruz, Olimpia Martins, and Carlos Dos Santos from Aidaba-leten village for assisting to verify local knowledge summaries. We are grateful for the hospitality, advice, and support provided to the lead author by WorldFish Timor-Leste staff, in particular Mario Pereira and Agustinha Duarte; and to the Timor-Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and community leaders for approving and endorsing this research. We also thank research assistants Noelia Talo, Deolindo Bere-Biti, Antonio Guterres, Lisa Goncalves, and Ovania Mendonca for co-facilitating discussions, translation and interpretation, audio transcription, and note taking; Peter Hunnam for comments and suggestions on the manuscript; Chris Fulton for comments on an early draft; Technical Services at Charles Darwin University?s College of Engineering, IT and Environment for providing consumables for fish specimen collection and preservation; as well as the two reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. Funding. This research was funded by the North Australian Marine Research Alliance (a former collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Charles Darwin University, The Australian National University, and the Northern Territory Government) and Charles Darwin University doctoral candidate research funding allocation. KH was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Contributions by DM and support offered by WorldFish Timor-Leste were funded through the CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems (FISH) led by WorldFish. The program is supported by contributors to the CGIAR Trust Fund. Open access publication fees were provided by Charles Darwin University.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Hunnam, Carlos, Hammer, Dos Reis Lopes, Mills and Stacey.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
