Pescadores, peixes, espa？o e tempo: Uma abordagem etnoecológica

this work was carried out in two communities of artisan fishermen, barra de mamanguape and tramataia, both located on the margins of the mamanguape river estuary, in the state of paraíba, northeast brazil. the aim was to study the artisan fishermen？s knowledge and perception concerning the classification of estuarine habitats, the sites where fishes are found and the habitats at which they thrive, and the evaluation of their spatial-temporal distribution. the main instruments of the methodology employed were free interviews, semi-structured interviews, direct observation, and conducted tours by local fishermen. the results made evident that the fishermen have a clear perception of fishes？ vertical space (in the water column) and horizontal space (penetration and reproduction sites along the estuary) distribution. with respect to fishes？ temporal distribution the fishermen recognize the dry and rainy climatic periods, which correspond to summer and winter seasons. dealing with fishes？ habitats the fishermen categorize them as ？rego？ (ditch), ？lama？ (mud), ？pedra？ (stone), ？areia？ (sand), ？tronco caído？ (fallen tree trunk), ？loca？ (hiding place), ？barroca？ (a sort of gutter made by running water), and ？buraco？ (hollow). the results provide information on local fishermen？s current fishing culture and point out the need to preserve such knowledge. the data also show that fishermen？s knowledge may be useful to studies on conservation and preservation of the mamanguape river estuary.