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1. Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29818-z  

   Reeder-Myers, Leslie; Braje, Todd J.; Hofman, Courtney A.; Elliott Smith, Emma A.; Garland, Carey J.; Grone, Michael; Hadden, Carla S.; Hatch, Marco; Hunt, Turner; Kelley, Alice; et al (December 2022, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, demonstrating the value of historical data for evaluating the past, present, and future of Earth’s ecosystems. Despite several important studies, Indigenous fisheries generally receive less attention from scholars and managers than the 17th–20th century capitalist commercial fisheries that decimated many keystone species, including oysters. We investigate Indigenous oyster harvest through time in North America and Australia, placing these data in the context of sea level histories and historical catch records. Indigenous oyster fisheries were pervasive across space and through time, persisting for 5000–10,000 years or more. Oysters were likely managed and sometimes “farmed,” and are woven into broader cultural, ritual, and social traditions. Effective stewardship of oyster reefs and other marine fisheries around the world must center Indigenous histories and include Indigenous community members to co-develop more inclusive, just, and successful strategies for restoration, harvest, and management. 

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2. Reckoning with coloniality: Trawl fisheries governance and the fight for equity and environmental justice in Alaska

   https://doi.org/10.1093/fshmag/vuaf022  

   Lavoie, Anna; Woods, Brooke; Martin, Mary Catharine; Boyer, Jackie Arnaciar (March 2025, Fisheries)

   ABSTRACT We examine the coloniality of Alaska pollock (Walleye Pollock Gadus chalcogrammus) trawl fisheries governance and its role in enabling salmon bycatch, highlighting the resulting impacts on Alaska Native communities and subsistence practices. We expose how the systemic marginalization of Alaska Native voices and knowledge in federal fisheries management perpetuates dispossession, oppression, and is a barrier to food sovereignty and environmental justice. Alaska Native communities have long attributed the decline of salmon populations, particularly Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and Chum Salmon O. keta, to bycatch from the pollock trawl fishery—a concern ignored for over a decade. The repeated failure to meet salmon escapement goals has led to subsistence and commercial fishery closures, deepening food insecurity, health crises, and cultural disruption for Alaska Native peoples. Meanwhile, industrial trawl fisheries persist with minimal accountability, exacerbating ecological harm by capturing nontarget species, such as salmon, halibut, and crab, further impacting local, nonindustrial fisheries. We advocate for urgent reform of Alaska’s federal fisheries governance to center Alaska Native voices, integrate Indigenous knowledge, and address inequities in salmon allocation. Specifically, we call for revisions to the national standards of the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to ensure policies that respect Native sovereignty, promote sustainability, and mitigate the ecological and social consequences of industrial trawling. This approach is critical to achieving equitable and sustainable fisheries management that upholds environmental justice and Alaska Native rights. 

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3. New directions for Indigenous and local knowledge research and application in fisheries science: Lessons from a systematic review

   https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12831  

   Jones, Benjamin_L H; Santos, Rolando O; James, W Ryan; Costa, Sophia V; Adams, Aaron J; Boucek, Ross E; Coals, Lucy; Cullen‐Unsworth, Leanne C; Shephard, Samuel; Rehage, Jennifer S (April 2024, Fish and Fisheries)

   Abstract Social‐ecological systems like fisheries provide food, livelihoods and recreation. However, lack of data and its integration into governance hinders their conservation and management. Stakeholders possess site‐specific knowledge crucial for confronting these challenges. There is increasing recognition that Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is valuable, but structural differences between ILK and quantitative archetypes have stalled the assimilation of ILK into fisheries management, despite acknowledged bias and uncertainty in scientific methods. Conducting a systematic review of fisheries‐associated ILK research (n = 397 articles), we examined how ILK is accessed, applied, distributed across space and species, and has evolved. We show that ILK has generated qualitative, semi‐quantitative and quantitative information for diverse taxa across 98 countries. Fisheries‐associated ILK research mostly targets small‐scale and artisanal fishers (70% of studies) and typically uses semi‐structured interviews (60%). We revealed large variability in sample size (n = 4–7638), predicted by the approach employed and the data generated (i.e. qualitative studies target smaller groups). Using thematic categorisation, we show that scientists are still exploring techniques, or ‘validating’ ILK through comparisons with quantitative scientific data (20%), and recording qualitative information of what fishers understand (40%). A few researchers are applying quantitative social science methods to derive trends in abundance, catch and effort. Such approaches facilitate recognition of local insight in fisheries management but fall short of accepting ILK as a valid complementary way of knowing about fisheries systems. This synthesis reveals that development and increased opportunities are needed to bridge ILK and quantitative scientific data. 

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4. Nutrient supply from marine small-scale fisheries

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37338-z  

   Viana, Daniel F.; Zamborain-Mason, Jessica; Gaines, Steven D.; Schmidhuber, Josef; Golden, Christopher D. (July 2023, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Over 2 billion people are unable to access safe, nutritious and sufficient food year-round. While global fisheries are considered key in providing essential nutrients to hundreds of millions of people around the globe, the specific contribution of small-scale fisheries to the nutrient supply given other available food supplies is unknown. Here, we combined multiple global databases to quantify the importance of marine small-scale fisheries to national-level nutrient supply of coastal populations. We found that, on average across assessed nutrients (iron, zinc, calcium, DHA + EPA and vitamins A and B₁₂), small-scale fisheries contributed about 32% of overall global seafood nutrient supply, 17% of the nutrient supply from animal-sourced foods and 10% of nutrient supply from all foods. These global averages, however, underrepresent some key roles of ocean-based foods. Combining nutrient supply estimates with global estimates of inadequate nutrient intake, we found that about half of coastal countries that have a mean inadequate intake of at least 50% across assessed nutrients (iron, zinc, calcium, DHA + EPA and vitamins A and B₁₂) rely on small scale fisheries for at least 15% of mean nutrient supply, and many rely on small scale fisheries for more than 30% of mean nutrient supply. Catch from small-scale fisheries is particularly important for the supply of vitamin B₁₂, calcium and DHA + EPA, representing up to 100% of supply in selected countries. Our study demonstrates the significance of small-scale fisheries for nutritionally vulnerable coastal populations, emphasizing how effective fisheries management can contribute to public health. 

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5. Ontology driven AI and Access Control Systems for Smart Fisheries

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3445969.3450429  

   Chukkapalli, Sai Sree; Aziz, Shaik Barakhat; Alotaibi, Nouran; Mittal, Sudip; Gupta, Maanak; Abdelsalam, Mahmoud (April 2021, 2021 ACM Workshop on Secure and Trustworthy Cyber-Physical Systems)

   null (Ed.)

   Increasing number of internet connected devices has paved a path for smarter ecosystems in various sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, manufacturing, healthcare, etc. Especially, integrating technologies like big data, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, etc. with internet connected devices has increased efficiency and productivity. Therefore, fishery farmers have started adopting smart fisheries technologies to better manage their fish farms. Despite their technological advancements smart fisheries are exposed and vulnerable to cyber-attacks that would cause a negative impact on the ecosystem both physically and economically. Therefore in this paper, we present a smart fisheries ecosystem where the architecture describes various interactions that happen between internet connected devices. We develop a smart fisheries ontology based on the architecture and implement Attribute Based Access Control System (ABAC) where access to resources of smart fisheries is granted by evaluating the requests. We also discuss how access control decisions are made in multiple use case scenarios of a smart fisheries ecosystem. Furthermore, we elaborate on some AI applications that would enhance the smart fisheries ecosystem. 

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