• Croatian Science Foundation

  • LEKFishResCRO will enhance our knowledge on recent changes in the Adriatic ichthyofauna

  • Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) is a valuable tool in observing environmental changes

Local Ecological Knowledge and Fisheries Research in Croatia

The aim of LEKFishResCRO is to gain a deeper insight into fisheries and biodiversity changes which are currently being observed in the Eastern Adriatic Sea. Beside alterations in biodiversity caused by global climatic change and evidenced through increased occurrences of thermophillic species, alterations in abundance of major commercial stocks have also been indicated through scientific research. To tackle this issue on a larger spatio-temporal scale, we decided to employ a survey based campaign which will help us extract local ecological knowledge (LEK) from the professional and sportive fisherman.

LEK interview protocol

First aim of the project is development and application of LEK interview protocol in order to gain as much valuable information on present and historical trends in abundance of most important commercially expolited species. Beside this, a portion of the interview will aim at the identification of most notable thermophillic species which experienced expansion in the last couple of decades.

Comparison of data

Second aim of the project is the comparison of data obtained through LEK protocol with the data collected through scientific research. This will allow us to validate and detect possible deficiences, but also advantages of these two different methodologies.

Collection of biological data

Third aim of the project is to collect biological data on the species identified through interviews as indicator species (thermophillic species with most significant range and population expansion).