Analysis of Attitudes and Behaviors with Ecological Knowledge and Values of Fishermen in the Protection of Sea Turtles in the Southern Aegean
Project no. 23064 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2021
Summary
<p> In this study, the local ecological knowledge of active fishermen in fisheries cooperatives located in the southern Aegean Sea (up to the Antalya border, including Kuşadası) about sea turtles was investigated by considering their psychographic segmentation (environmental attitudes, values, thoughts, attitudes towards a sustainable ecosystem, beliefs and taboos). At the same time, the current status of sea turtles (<em>Caretta caretta</em> and <em>Chelonia mydas</em>) and their interaction levels with fishermen were also tried to be explained in the Aegean Sea.</p><p> The study was conducted face-to-face with the members of 30 fisheries cooperatives in Aydın and Muğla provinces between October 2020 and December 2022. With stratified sampling method, 126 fishermen, which corresponds to 21% of the number of active fishermen in the area, were interviewed and a total of 176 questions were asked under 16 headings. Open-ended questions and Likert-type scales were used to collect the necessary information from fishermen.</p><p>In the study area, sea turtles are encountered in all seasons, although mostly in summer. Although the most common fishing is with gillnets and entangling nets, all fishermen who do trawling and purse seining have caught sea turtles. While regional fishermen want to live a peaceful, successful and happy life in terms of their personal values, they also seek excitement in their work. At the same time, it was found that 65% of the fishermen were of the opinion that protectionist policies were necessary for sustainability. It has been observed that government offices have an important role in obtaining information about the professions of fishermen. Since the average occupational experience of the fishermen is 40 years and most of them are small-scale fishermen and they do not change their fishing areas, they stated that the sea turtle population increased in the fished areas depending on the local ecological knowledge of the fishermen. Local ecological knowledge can have important implications for strengthening and developing ecosystem-based management plans and for scientific research on fishing areas. Therefore, combining local knowledge with scientific ecological modeling systems has great potential to develop reliable scientific forecasts and accurate future predictions.</p><p>In conclusion, it is thought that the information obtained in this study can provide important insights and recommendations for the conservation and management of the aquatic environment and sea turtles, as well as help future studies and the development of ecosystem-based fishing policies.</p><p><br></p>