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Combining the uncombinable:
corporate memories,
ethnobiological observations,
oceanographic and ecological
data to enhance climatic
resilience in small-scale fisheries
Isabel Garibay-Toussaint
1,2
, Carolina Olguı
´n-Jacobson
3
,
C. Brock Woodson
4
, Nur Arafeh-Dalmau
3,5
, Jorge Torre
1
,
Stuart Fulton
1
, Fiorenza Micheli
3,6
, Ryan O’Connor
3,7
,
Magdalena Pre
´coma-de la Mora
1
, Arturo Herna
´ndez-Velasco
1
and Nemer E. Narchi
2
*
1
Comunidad y Biodiversidad Asociacio
´n Civil, Guaymas, Mexico,
2
CoLaboratorio de Oceanografı
´a
Social, Centro de Estudios en Geografı
´a Humana, El Colegio de Michoaca
´n Asociacio
´n Civil, La
Piedad, Mexico,
3
Hopkins Marine Station, Oceans Department, Stanford University, Pacific Grove,
CA, United States,
4
College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States,
5
Centre
for Biodiversity Conservation, School of the Environment, University of Queensland, Brisbane,
QLD, Australia,
6
Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, United
States,
7
Stanford Emmett Interdisciplinary Program for Environment and Resources, Stanford,
CA, United States
The global food production system is increasingly strained by abrupt and
unpredictable weather events, which hinder communities' ability to adapt to
climate variations. Despite advances in meteorological predictions, many
communities lack the academic knowledge or infrastructure to interpret these
complex models. This gap highlights the need for solutions that make climate
forecasts more accessible and actionable, especially for communities reliant on
natural resources. This study explores the potential of enhancing seasonal
climate forecasts by integrating local ecological knowledge (LEK) with scientific
data. Specifically, we combined ethnobiological information gathered between
2022 and 2024 with existing oceanographic and ecological data to create an
ethnobiological calendar for four fishing cooperatives. An ethnographic
approach was used to understand the population's ethnobiological knowledge
and their perceptions of marine heatwaves and climate change impacts. Coastal
monitoring data was collected using moorings that recorded temperature over a
14-year period (2010–2024). To characterize giant kelp dynamics, we used an
existing dataset of multispectral Landsat images, which estimates the surface
canopy biomass of giant kelp forests. Ecological monitoring was conducted
annually every summer from 2006 to 2023 to record the in situ abundance of
ecologically and economically important invertebrate and fish species.
Combining oceanographic, ecological, and ethnographic data, allowed for
alligning fishers' observations with recorded marine heatwave events and
ecological shifts. Our findings revealed that these observations closely
Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org01
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED BY
Brian Helmuth,
Northeastern University, United States
REVIEWED BY
Nicole Crane,
Cabrillo College, United States
Jason Paul Landrum,
Pew Charitable Trusts, United States
*CORRESPONDENCE
Nemer E. Narchi
narchi@colmich.edu.mx
RECEIVED 01 July 2024
ACCEPTED 30 September 2024
PUBLISHED 21 October 2024
CITATION
Garibay-Toussaint I, Olguı
´n-Jacobson C,
Woodson CB, Arafeh-Dalmau N, Torre J,
Fulton S, Micheli F, O’Connor R,
Pre
´coma-de la Mora M,
Herna
´ndez-Velasco A and Narchi NE (2024)
Combining the uncombinable:
corporate memories, ethnobiological
observations, oceanographic and
ecological data to enhance climatic
resilience in small-scale fisheries.
Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1458059.
doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
COPYRIGHT
© 2024 Garibay-Toussaint, Olguı
´n-Jacobson,
Woodson, Arafeh-Dalmau, Torre, Fulton,
Micheli, O’Connor, Pre
´coma-de la Mora,
Herna
´ndez-Velasco and Narchi. This is an
open-access article distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution License
(CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction
in other forums is permitted, provided the
original author(s) and the copyright owner(s)
are credited and that the original publication
in this journal is cited, in accordance with
accepted academic practice. No use,
distribution or reproduction is permitted
which does not comply with these terms.
TYPE Original Research
PUBLISHED 21 October 2024
DOI 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
matched documented marine heatwave data and corresponding ecological
changes. The integration of LEK with scientificoceanographicdata can
significantly improved our understanding of dynamic climate regimes, offering
contextually relevant information that enhances the reliability and utility of
seasonal climate forecasts. By incorporating yearly data into an ethnobiological
calendar, we promote more inclusive, community-based approaches to
environmental management, advocating for the integration of LEK in climate
adaptation efforts, emphasizing its crucial role in strengthening resilience
strategies against climatic shocks.
KEYWORDS
climate adaptation, environmental baselines, local ecological knowledge,
ethnobiological calendars, marine ecosystems, corporate memories
1 Introduction
Weather and climate significantly influence environmental
processes and ecological responses (Wax et al., 1977). Human
survival has long depended on recognizing and interpreting these
processes (Narchi et al., 2024). However, abrupt and unpredictable
weather increasingly challenges global food production systems.
Local communities are struggling to interpret and prepare for
environmental changes, limiting the reliability of traditional
weather knowledge for forecasting (Kolawole et al., 2014;Narchi,
2014;Ndlovu et al., 2024). In coastal and marine environments,
sudden climatic shocks and gradual climate shifts disrupt marine
ecosystems, affecting essential resources like food (Kidane and
Brækkan, 2021), oxygen (Giomi et al., 2023), livelihoods (Price
and Narchi, 2018), blue spaces (Britton et al., 2020), and medicines
(Antunes et al., 2023), as well as other cultural services and material
goods (Turner, Cuerrier, and Joseph, 2022).
Despite continuous advancements in meteorological predictions,
with no apparent limits to improving predictability (Alley et al.,
2019), computer-generated weather and climate models are cultural
and temporal abstractions of weather rather than representations of
nature itself (Helmreich, 2023). These models not only create and
predispose people to simulated versions of nature, thus naturalizing
the social world (Jasanoff and Wynne, 1998), but also rely on
variables such as sea surface temperature, atmospheric pressure,
and annual precipitation. This reliance reflects implicit choices
about what is deemed important to measure, as well as how and
where data are collected (Hepach and Lüder, 2023).
These choices reflect epistemic biases and challenge
meteorological predictions. To serve all communities effectively,
weather forecasts should be co-developed with local participants,
creating culturally relevant, hybrid models. These models should
emphasize place-based education and inquiry-driven approaches,
focusing on key regions and correlating weather patterns with
significant phenological events (Mugi-Ngenga et al., 2021).
Despite being overlooked, phenological observations offer
valuable insights into climatic patterns (Kugara et al., 2022;
Bulian, 2020) and can improve the accuracy of seasonal forecasts
and decision-making (Streefkerk et al., 2022). When properly
interpreted, they serve as reliable indicators of climate change and
weather variability (Alley et al., 2019). Integrating this locally
developed knowledge with resource management is crucial for
rural and remote communities lacking the resources, rights, and
infrastructure to respond to external shocks (Micheli et al., 2024)
and facing shifts in seasonal weather patterns (Narchi et al., 2014).
Incorporating historical knowledge into formal fisheries models
(Pauly, 1995) has helped reconstruct records for marine species
influenced by extractive human activities (Ferretti et al., 2014). In a
similar sense, the concept of Shifting Baseline Syndrome (SBS)
highlights the generational oversight of significant changes in
marine ecosystems, such as on sea turtles in the Caribbean
(Jackson, 1997) and marine fauna in the Gulf of California (Saenz-
Arroyo et al., 2006). SBS has been instrumental in studying ecological
responses to past climate conditions and events, assessing fisheries
changes, promoting environmental policy, and has relevance to
forestry and ethnobiology (Jackson, 1997;Saenz-Arroyo et al., 2005,
2006;Vera, 2009;Hanazaki et al., 2013).
Local ecological knowledge (LEK) produces baseline information
(such as fisheries records, naturalist observations and local
cookbooks) that can be used to understand ecological
characteristics of the ecosystems that local communities depend on
(Narchi et al., 2014). In the context of marine and coastal settings,
local ecological knowledge refers to the understanding that coastal
communities have developed regarding the ecological characteristics
(both structure and function) of the coastal and marine ecosystems
they rely on for resource exploitation (Early-Capistran et al., 2022), as
Garibay-Toussaint et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org02
well as for aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual fulfillment (Narchi et al.,
2014). This understanding includes ethnometeorogical knowledge,
i.e., locally developed knowledge on climate variability and change
based on vernacular observations and practices (Leonard et al., 2013).
In Baja California’sfisheries, the term “local ecological
knowledge”may not fully apply to cooperatives like those we’ve
worked with, as they originated from international collaboration.
Specifically, these cooperatives were established through a treaty
between Japan and Mexico, with Japanese expertise in fishing and
diving techniques forming the foundation (Estes, 1977). As the
industry grew, Mexican fishers, ranchers, and hunter-gatherers
from San Ignacio, Baja California, were trained by Japanese
immigrants to dive for abalone, later applying this knowledge to
other fisheries like lobster and sea cucumber (A
lvarez et al., 2018).
The similarity between the seascapes of Japan and Baja California
facilitated the successful transfer of fishing technologies and
knowledge, creating a collective repository of expertise within the
industry—referred to here as corporate memory (Euzenat, 1996).
We argue that these fishing cooperatives operate with a corporate
purpose, focusing on the extraction, capture, and fishing of various
shellfish, fish, and crustaceans for sales, transportation, and
industrialization (Vargas-Hernandez et al., 2016).
Enhancing and transferring knowledge within an organization
is vital for improving its competitiveness (Vesperi and Ingrassia,
2021). This knowledge, often referred to as know-how, includes
expertise in problem-solving across various functional disciplines,
human resource management, process knowledge, technical design
challenges, and lessons learned (Decker and Maurer, 1999). While
corporate memory studies have been extensively explored in fields
like public administration and the automotive industry, they have
received little attention in the small-scale food-producing sector.
This sector is characterized by small and micro-sized organizations
with limited innovation potential, low investment in research and
development, and managerial practices with low knowledge
capacity (Vesperi and Ingrassia, 2021, and references therein).
Our dataset indicates that fishing cooperatives in Baja California,
particularly those discussed in this study, have developed a
noteworthy corporate memory within their organizations. This
knowledge is predominantly documented in reports covering
various aspects such as catch statistics, national and international
trade, financial earnings, fishing and factory permits and regulations,
profit sharing, and membership rights and responsibilities (see
McCay et al., 2014) However, to improve the sustainability of
fishing practices, fishing cooperatives must constantly adapt and
adopt new organizational models and processes (cf. Vesperi and
Ingrassia, 2021). Achieving this requires members to share both
informal and formal knowledge in a structured manner, facilitating
reciprocal referencing between the two types of knowledge: corporate
memory and local ecological knowledge. This approach enables
cooperative members to actively utilize, disseminate, and maintain
knowledge through participatory activities, ensuring a coherent
system of meanings and understanding is formed (Euzenat, 1996).
When informal knowledge integrates into corporate memory, it
becomes dynamic and adaptable to new circumstances. This includes
local ecological knowledge, which is deeply connected to specific
places through a lifetime of interaction with the environment. Sense
of place links communities to their natural surroundings and is both a
physical and socially constructed space (Cresswell, 2015;Masterson
et al., 2017). Such connection fosters environmental stewardship and
pro-environmental behaviors (Dang and Weiss, 2021;Daryanto and
Song, 2021) and reinforces conservation and restoration efforts
(Ardoin et al., in press)
1
. This tacit knowledge, developed through
lived experience, is essential for understanding local ecological
dynamics in ways conventional Western science cannot. In the
communities where this knowledge circulates, it enhances
adaptability (Mason et al., 2022), survival (Hosen et al., 2020), and
economic success (Albuquerque et al., 2021).
Our research stems from a project that aims to investigate the
resilience and adaptive capacity of coastal socio-environmental
systems to shock from both the environment (e.g., climate change)
and human systems (e.g., social, political, and market change). In this
study, we use local ecological knowledge (in the form of corporate
memory) as a means of reconstructing environmental baselines for
five distinct fishing cooperatives to understand climate change and
adaptive capacity to this change. Considering their relatively young
age and entrepreneurial origins, we view these cooperatives as
corporate entities wherein members acquire, retain, and exchange
local ecological knowledge through their daily interactions with
marine resources and coastal environments. We use an innovative
approach that extends beyond solely relying on local ecological
knowledge, as we integrate local ecological knowledge with
oceanographic and ecological times series data, matching the
fishers’perception of conspicuous environmental shocks with
oceanographic timelines for water temperature, as well as data
from ecological monitoring and surface canopy of giant kelp.
We propose leveraging the corporate memory of these fishing
cooperatives along with the local ecological knowledge of their
members to reconstruct environmental baselines. Our goal is to
highlight the importance of incorporating local ecological
knowledge into seasonal climate forecasts, particularly in the context
of climate change and shifting weather patterns. Recognizing the value
of integrating local knowledge systems (Balick et al., 2022)into
weather prediction, we advocate for the use of ethnobiological
calendars as a simple yet powerful tool to develop relevant records
and proactive responses to environmental changes. This approach can
enhance natural resource management, generate data for future
validation, and increase resilience to climatic shocks. By doing so,
we support global efforts to promote relevant research and reciprocal
collaboration with local science (Winter et al., 2020). The use of
calendarized knowledge has already proven effective in helping Baja
California fishers advocate for seasonal bans on species like Octopus
bimaculatus and O. hubbsorum (Anonymous, 2023).
1 Ardoin, N., O’Connor, R., and Bowers, A. (in press) Exploring how place
connections support sustainability solutions in marine socio-ecological
systems. In L. B. Crowder (Ed.) Navigating Our Way to Solutions in Marine
Conservation (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Open Book Publishers).
Garibay-Toussaint et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org03
2 Data collection
To harness all the predictive power of combined oceanographic,
ecological, and ethnobiological data, it is necessary to build a
monitoring tool with much more resolution than that provided by
corporate records and cooperative members’memories. One such tool
is an ethnobiological calendar, which on local ecological knowledge
and life histories aim to generate robust information supporting the
development of adaptation plans in response to various stressors as
well as regional climate regime change (Narchi et al., 2024).
2.1 Study area and system
The Baja California Peninsula, characterized by its xeric and
insular environment, is home to numerous fishing cooperatives that
play a significant role in the region’sfishing industry, often focusing
on high-value species. These cooperatives are scattered both
through Baja California and Baja California Sur and have been
granted exclusive fishing rights (i.e., fishing concessions) over local
stocks, including abalone, lobster, sea urchin, and other benthic
resources since the 1930s (McCay et al., 2014).
Participatory oceanographic and ecological research was
conducted between 2006 and 2024 in five different fishing
cooperatives located along the Baja California Peninsula: El
Rosario, Isla Cedros (Cedros Island), and Islas Benitos (San Benito
Islands) in Baja California; and Isla Natividad (Natividad Island) and
BahıaAsuncio
n (Asuncion Bay) in Baja California Sur,
Mexico (Figure 1).
The northernmost community we collaborate with is
Cooperativa Ensenada in San Quintın, with 2,423 residents across
El Rosario de Arriba and El Rosario de Abajo (INEGI, 2020).
Founded in 1940, Cooperativa Ensenada is one of several key
cooperatives in the region. Isla Natividad, in the El Vizcaıno
Biosphere Reserve, has 268 residents (INEGI, 2020) and hosts the
“Buzos y Pescadores de la Baja California”cooperative, established
in 1942. Isla Cedros and Islas San Benito, part of the Pacific Islands
of the Baja California Peninsula Biosphere Reserve, have
populations of 1,233 and 8, respectively (INEGI, 2020), and are
home to the “Productores Nacionales de Abulon”cooperative,
founded in 1936. BahıaAsuncio
n, also in the El Vizcaıno
Biosphere Reserve, has 1,453 residents (INEGI, 2020) and hosts
two cooperatives: “Ribereña Leyes de Reforma,”established in 1974,
and “California de San Ignacio,”the region’sfirst cooperative,
founded in 1943.
The study area and its fisheries have faced significant shocks in
the past, such as severe El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) effects,
combined with overfishing and illegal fishing of key resources since
the 1980s. These factors greatly reduced the productivity of fisheries
like abalone and had a profound impact on the socio-ecological
system (Micheli et al., 2024). Additionally, climate shocks have
recently impacted kelp forest ecosystems that sustain these fisheries
(Arafeh-Dalmau et al., 2019;Beas-Luna et al., 2020).
In response to the challenges faced by the fisheries—such as the
decline in fish stocks due to overfishing, illegal fishing activities, and
environmental changes—co-management measures were
introduced after the fisheries struggled to survive after being
impacted by severe ENSO and overfishing in the 1980s. New
territory-based access rights for community-based cooperatives
were established (McCay et al., 2014;A
lvarez et al., 2018). These
measures aimed to address declining productivity and ensure
sustainable fishing practices. In exchange for exclusive fishing
zones for benthic species (e.g., abalone, lobster, snails),
FIGURE 1
Map showing the research area in the central portion of the Baja California Peninsula. The circles represent the different localities where
oceanographic and ecological participatory research was conducted, pink for El Rosario (fishing cooperative “Ensenada”), green for Isla Cedros and
purple for Islas San Benito (fishing cooperative “Pescadores Nacionales de Abulon”), red for Isla Natividad (fishing cooperative “Buzos y Pescadores
de Baja California”), yellow for Bahıa Asuncion(fishing cooperative “California San Ignacio”in the north and “Ribereña Leyes de Reforma”in
the south).
Garibay-Toussaint et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org04
cooperative members are legally obligated to collaborate, pay dues,
and assist governmental authorities in monitoring and enforcing
their concessions (Young, 2001;McCay et al., 2014). Additionally,
these cooperatives rely on other fisheries, including several finfish
species for which they do not hold exclusive rights and have
historically lacked developed and enforced management plans
(Shester and Micheli, 2011;Micheli et al., 2014).
2.2 The California current system
Driven by economic and political motivations, interest in
describing the oceanographic characteristics of the Eastern North
Pacific dates back to 1535 AD (Pares-Sierra et al., 1997). One of its
most prominent features, identified since 1565 by Andresde
Urdaneta, is the oceanic gyre of the North Pacific(Pares-Sierra
et al., 1997), largely fueled by the California Current System and
regarded as the largest ecosystem on the planet (Karl, 1999). The
California Current System is characterized by abundant oceanic
fronts, which are known to be associated with coastal upwelling
(Mauzole et al., 2020), leading to moderate to high productivity and
species diversity (Wilkinson et al., 2009).
The region is influenced by pronounced climatic cycles,
including the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation, the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation, and warm
water anomalies like the 2014-2015 event known as The “Blob”
(Micheli et al., 2024;Arafeh-Dalmau et al., 2019;Villaseñor et al.
(2024)). These phenomena, either synergistically or independently
(Mancilla-Peraza et al., 1993), can lead to significant fluctuations in
ocean temperature (Durazo and Baumgartner, 2002), upwelling
intensity (Zaytsev et al., 2003), primary productivity (Gonzalez-
Silvera et al., 2020), and the composition of species assemblages
(Pearcy and Schoener, 1987).
2.3 Steps for building ethnobiological
calendars; a climate resilience tool
The process involved integrating ethnobiological information
gathered between 2022-2024 with existing oceanographic and
ecological data, resulting in the creation of an ethnobiological
calendar for the study’sfive fishing communities. Before reaching
this stage, we identified perceived changes and shocks, allocating
these through time and space within timelines. Timelines are
valuable for examining historical changes, impacts, and responses.
However, to fully utilize the predictive capabilities of integrated
oceanographic, ecological, and ethnobiological data, a more detailed
monitoring tool is required than what corporate records and
cooperative members’memories can offer. An ethnobiological
calendar serves this purpose, leveraging local ecological
knowledge and life histories to produce comprehensive
information. This information is crucial for creating adaptation
plans to address various stressors (Narchi et al., 2024). We detail the
datasets and methodologies employed.
2.3.1 Ethnographic methods to understand the
corporate memory and derived local
ecological knowledge
To understand the population’s perceptions of the impacts of
marine heatwaves and climate change, we employed an
ethnographic approach (Montes Vega, 2023). The core of our
research team has extensively collaborated with these cooperatives
for over 20 years. For this phase, we visited five fishing cooperatives
sharing fisheries resources but contrasting in terms of organization,
oceanographic patterns, and levels of production. The fieldtrips,
from late 2022 through 2024 (October 2022; February, June and
October 2023; and March 2024), allowed us to witness the
development of local activities directly related to commercial
fisheries as they occurred throughout the year.
During this period, we employed a range of anthropological
methods and techniques, primarily based on direct observation. The
ethnographic approach emphasizes direct observation and
participation in the communities we collaborated with (Seim,
2024). Although extended stays were not possible, our research
involved multiple short trips between 2022 and 2024 to various
localities. As of this publication, the team has conducted five field
trips, each lasting approximately 15 to 20 days.
This immersion allowed for engaging in numerous formal and
informal conversations during everyday events and community
activities, such as cooperative assemblies, preparing fishing
expeditions, community tours, and formal conversations with
structured questions administered in nine workshops and 38
individual interviews organized to investigate specifictopics
related to shocks and resilience in fishing.Forthisproject,
participants were invited by cooperative leaders, and those
interested in participating attended the workshops. This meant
that individuals participated regardless of their tenure, rank, or
position, resulting in a heterogeneous mix. This approach allowed
us to hold 185 interactions with 169 individuals (Table 1) residing
in four localities in the central region of Baja California, who belong
to five fishing cooperatives.
Direct observation provided insights into the dynamics between
people and the species of interest by allowing us to witness firsthand
the interactions and behaviors that define these relationships. We
conducted workshops to gather cooperative members and followed
up with personal interviews, asking relevant questions at opportune
moments. During participant observation, we made initial notes in
afield notebook, which were later meticulously transferred to a
detailed field journal, enriched with additional observations and
reflections. Our final goal aligns with the principles of Grounded
Theory, where local theories about how the world works emerge
through a systematic process of induction (Hurst, 2023). To
minimize bias, we engaged in constant feedback by presenting
results to the community, allowing these local theories to evolve
and be refined based on their input (Urquhart, 2023). This
approach nurtures and expands the community’s self-created
theories. By integrating diverse data collection methods, i.e.,
interviews, workshops, conversations and fieldnotes (Bernard,
2017), we quickly achieved data saturation through triangulation
while building a more robust understanding of community
dynamics through triangulation (Aldiabat and Le Navenec, 2018).
Garibay-Toussaint et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
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Interactions were recorded through audio recordings (30 h, 51
min, 32 seconds) whenever feasible and supplemented with
contextual information recorded in ethnographic field notes,
producing a combined record of 1173 pages of notes and
transcripts. The combined files were transcribed and categorized
using Atlas.ti 8 software. To move beyond mere anecdotal
description, we employed a thematic coding approach outlined by
Urquhart (2023). This involved assigning codes to sentences or
words referring to specific actions, attributes, or behaviors. Our
coding process aimed to identify patterns in the data by initially
organizing them into large thematic categories, which were then
further refined with smaller codes. This methodical approach
allowed us to analyze how these codes intersected spatially,
providing more in-depth insights and ensuring the data
accurately captured the complex dynamics between the people
and the species of interest.
With the data collected, we began creating a timeline for each
cooperative using their corporate memory. Since the data did not
extend back far enough to cover the establishment and early years of
the cooperatives, we decided to seek out retired fishers and elderly
individuals for interviews about their active fishing years and the
stories passed down from their parents. We interviewed 18 elders
(from 54 to 71 years old) from various cooperatives. These timelines
were then enriched with data from additional interviews and
informal conversations, providing us with over 60 years of lived
experience related to the abundance of natural resources, as well as
economic, infrastructural, social, and political changes.
2.3.1.1 Timelines for constructing corporate memory
Over the span of oneyear, we conducted five visits to five fisheries
along the Pacific coast of Baja California Peninsula crafting a
methodology in the spirit of Grounded Theory. Our initial objective
was to comprehend both present-day challenges and historical shifts
encountered by the cooperatives. To facilitate this, during a workshop,
we provided cards for participants to write down their experiences.
We asked them to write down the shocks, risks and changes they were
facing during the workshop and in the past. After collecting their
input, we affixed the cards to a wall and categorized them based on
common themes, thus forming overarching meta-categories
representing the risks and changes they confronted (Figure 2).
After collecting the cards, we read each aloud to put under
public scrutiny the timing of the documented events. Then, the
assembly reached consensus on when each of the events began,
what was their timespan or if these remain ongoing processes. We
then constructed a timeline, organizing these risks and changes
chronologically to provide a comprehensive view of their evolution
over time (Figure 3).
Once all the gathered information was systematized, we used
subsequent field visits to interview key stakeholders. These
interviews followed closely related topics to those touched
throughout the workshop, ensuring we asked the same set of
questions. This method ensured consistency in data collection
processes across different groups, allowing us to delve deeper into
the information and gather data from further back in time,
especially when working with older individuals and retired
fishers. The timelines contained extensive information on social,
political, climate, resources, and infrastructure changes. For this
article, we decided to primarily focus on the climate and
resource shocks.
TABLE 1 Summary of participant interactions (185) during fieldwork (October 2022 –March 2024), including workshop attendees (117), interviewees
(38), and informal interactions (30).
Cooperative Members Cooperative Employees Unidentified cooperative
members
Townye people not
related to the
cooperative
Formal interviews 21 12 5
Workshop
participants
29 53 35
Informal meetings - - 30
Sixteen of the interviewees also participated as workshop participants and were selected for interview due to the depth of their knowledge.
FIGURE 2
Photograph taken in Bahıa Asuncion in 2023 with participating
members of the California San Ignacio Fishing Cooperative during
the initial workshop. In this session, shocks, risks and changes that
the cooperative has experienced were written on colored cards,
affixed to the wall, and grouped by categories. Photograph by
Arturo Hernandez-Velasco.
Garibay-Toussaint et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org06
2.3.2 Oceanographic data
2.3.2.1 Coastal monitoring
Mooring sites were established on each side of Isla Natividad
(starting in 2010; Morro Prieto and Punta Prieta) and El Rosario
(Isla San Geronimo beginning in 2013; Sportfish and Chinatown) in
approximately 15 meters of water in collaboration with each
cooperative (Figure 4). These moorings recorded temperature,
salinity, and dissolved oxygen every 10 minutes over a 14-year
period from 2010 to 2024 (Comunidad y Biodiversidad, ND)
2
. Each
mooring consists of a bottom-mounted conductivity-temperature-
depth (CTD, Seabird SBE37-ODO) sensor with dissolved oxygen or
a combined temperature-dissolved oxygen sensor (PME MiniDot).
Other sensors have been included on the moorings over various
periods including high-frequency temperature loggers (SBE56),
acoustic doppler current profilers (Nortek ADP; Teledyne RDI
Workhorse); however, the CTD and MiniDot records are
consistent across the entire sampling period at each site and are
reported here (Villaseñor-Derbez et al., 2017).
Sensors and moorings undergo maintenance every six months,
performed by dive teams comprising of researchers and local
fishers. Temperature records span more than 10 years in each
cooperative (2008-2024 at Isla Natividad; 2012-2024 in El Rosario).
All data are collected, quality-controlled, and shared with the local
cooperatives. The sensors are recovered, and the information is
downloaded periodically, generating annual databases. When
necessary, the sensors are calibrated or reconfigured in situ or
sent to the manufacturer for calibration and repair. Sensors are also
cross calibrated opportunistically and serviced annually as needed.
The aim here is to demonstrate how relatively inexpensive data can
contribute to local management and conservation efforts,
enhancing the sustainability of these vital ecosystems.
2.3.2.2 Ecological monitoring
To characterize giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) dynamics we
used an existing dataset that uses multispectral Landsat images and
estimates the surface canopy biomass of giant kelp forests
(henceforth “giant kelp biomass”)(Bell et al., 2020). Giant kelp
forests are one of the primary habitats in Baja California that sustain
important fisheries in our study region (Piñeiro-Corbeira et al.,
2022). This dataset provides quarterly estimates of giant kelp
biomass at a 30 m grid resolution from 1984 to present
(Cavanaugh et al., 2011) from central California (37°), USA, to
Central Baja California (~27°) where giant kelp forest is the
dominant canopy-forming kelp species (Bell et al., 2020).
The dataset can be visualized on kelpwatch.org (Bell et al., 2023).
We extracted all 30 m grid pixels that overlay with the fishing
concession polygons of our study area and estimated the mean pixel
biomass for each quarter of the year and created a dataset from 1984 to
2023 (Figure 5)foreachfishing concession. The methods developed to
estimate kelp biomass were validated using 15 years of monthly kelp
canopy surveys by the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological
Research project at two sitesinSouthernCalifornia.
2.3.2.3 Biological monitoring
Ecological monitoring was conducted annually, every summer
from 2006 to 2023. The data collected varied per fishing
cooperative: Buzos y Pescadores from Isla Natividad started in
2006, Ensenada from El Rosario started in 2013, while California
San Ignacio from Bahia Asuncion and Pescadores Nacionales de
Abulon from Isla Cedros and Islas San Benito only have data from
2022 and 2023. Using SCUBA, trained divers lay a 30 x 2 m (60m2)
belt transect to record in situ abundance data of ecological and
economically important invertebrate and fish species (Freiwald
et al., 2021). Every year, between 16-30 transects per 5 sites in
Isla Natividad, 13-21 transects per nine sites in El Rosario, six
transects per two sites in Bahia Asuncion and six transects per seven
sites in Isla Cedros and Islas San Benito were surveyed. Data was
square root transformed for better species visualization.
2.3.2.4 Calendars as a tool for integrating local
ecological knowledge
The construction of calendars was centered on the main fisheries
for each cooperative. Abalone (Haliotis spp), sea cucumber
(Apostichopus parvimensis), lobster (Panilurus interruptus) and sea
urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) for Coop. Ensenada; lobster,
abalone, common wavy snail (Megastraea undosa), and sea cucumber
for California San Ignacio; abalone, common wavy snail, and lobster
for Ribereña Leyes de Reforma and abalone, common wavy snail,
Yellowtail amberjack (Seriola lalandi) and lobster, for Buzos y
Pescadores in Isla Natividad. While these species remain popular
throughout the area due to their market value, other fisheries and
their opening seasons are also portrait in the calendars, as can be seen
with octopus (Octopus sp), flounder (Paralichthys californicus), and
the barred sand bass (Paralabrax nebulifer), in BahıaAsuncio
nor
ocean whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps) at Isla Natividad.
To create ethnobiological calendars for each cooperative, we
followed the methodology described by Narchi et al. (2024),
2 Comunidad y Biodiversidad, ND La red oceanogra
fica. Available online at:
https://cobi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=
6f837e0ef0c84d21a4ab87126dbdaebb (Accessed 6.30.24).
FIGURE 3
Timeline created during the workshop with the Cooperative “Buzos
y Pescadores de Baja California”at Isla Natividad, February 2023.
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focusing on seven key aspects. We conducted nine workshops with all
cooperative members, regardless of seniority or position, using a
structured script to guide discussions. We gathered information on:
a) type of year (normal, hot, or other), b) the number and names of
seasons as perceived by the fishers, c) local divisions of the year, d)
oceanographic characteristics (currents, sand deposition, sea
temperature), e) meteorology (mean temperature, humidity, winds,
rainfall), f) phenology, capturing the interconnected observations
related to climate, biology, and ecology, and g) the biology and
management of target species, including behavior, diet, reproductive
cycles, growth stages, morphological changes, and management
considerations like closed seasons.
FIGURE 5
Time series of canopy kelp biomass (g/m²) detected in each quarter of the year, along with information about events impacting kelp biomass for
each of the five cooperatives in Baja California, Mexico. The pink shaded polygons represent years with the strongest warming events (1982-1983
ENSO, 1997-1998 ENSO, and 2014-2016 “Blob”+ ENSO). The text includes ethnographic records related to environmental events and kelp dynamics
for each community.
FIGURE 4
Maps showing the mooring locations at (A) Isla Natividad and (B) El Rosario, indicated by red dots.
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3 Results
Analyzing corporate memory and individual accounts of
changes in fishery yields in response to environmental change
and uncertainty provides a robust understanding of climatic
alterations and responses to political, economic, and sanitary
shocks, among others. This approach enriches the context and
highlights human reactions to specific shocks (Figure 6).
During the workshops with members from each of the
cooperatives (where active fishers were the most numerous
attendants), we asked about shocks, changes and risks related to
the oceans or fishing activities and requested that these were
referenced over time. The results show that participants from the
cooperatives had a similar sense of weather anomalies. They clearly
remembered the warm anomaly known as “The Blob”that
developed northern Pacific. They mentioned that since that event,
there has been more kelp in some communities, and there has been
a decrease in the abalone population and abnormally high water
temperatures. In BahıaAsuncio
n, Baja California Sur, people
recalled a drastic drop in the abalone population (Figure 7D).
Additionally, for El Rosario, Baja California, participants noted
that climate change was becoming more intense, meaning that the
weather and water temperatures were drastically changing, which
affected the abundance of marine resources (Figure 7A). On Isla
Cedros and Islas San Benito, Baja California, participants reported
that the recovery of abalone, sea snail, lobster, and floating
sargassum had slowed down after initial recovery following the
2014-2016 marine heatwaves. They remembered that sea cucumber
was “freely fished”until it was depleted. The fishers from Cedros
and San Benito also knew that the decrease in abalone and sea snail
in 2012 was due to low oxygen levels (Figure 7C).
3.1 Oceanographic and giant kelp
biomass data
Coastal monitoring provided us with a time series for
temperature from 2013-2024 in two localities: Isla Natividad and
El Rosario (Figure 8). For Isla Natividad only one observation
overlapped with ethnographic data mentioning overexploitation.
Temperature data for El Rosario, with ethnographic counterparts
occurred for the years of 2014-2016.
Landsat dataset on giant kelp biomass gains context when
merged with ethnographic data. For El Rosario (Figure 5), it is
inferred that the first reports of climate change by cooperative
members around 1980 align with initial records of canopy biomass,
which remained relatively low (-1000 g/m²) until the 2000s. For
these 20 years (1980-2000), ethnographic highlights match the low
canopy biomass.
From 1996 to 1997, fishers perceived more noticeable climatic
alterations, such as warm waters entering their fishing grounds.
This pattern coincides with major climatic shocks, whether from a
high peak of the ENSO signal or other abnormal hot water currents,
such as the 2014-2016 marine heatwaves. These signals and their
effects on surface canopy biomass are evident and can be related
without ethnographic mediation, as seen in the timelines for Isla
Cedros and Islas San Benito (Figure 5). However, associating a
decrease in canopy surface cover with specific perceptions provides
a richer context, as observed in the northern part of Bahıa
Asuncion. Here, the impacts of Hurricane Nora (1997), another
ENSO positive peak (1997-1999), and the 2014-2016 “Blob”on
surface canopy biomass are clearly noticeable.
It is worth mentioning that high variability in oceanographic
conditions, occurring both across and within fishing concessions, can
be inferred from the surface canopy biomass data. A clear example of
this is clearly illustrated when comparing what occurs across Bahıa
Asuncion, where yearly biomass in the northern location is
significantly higher when compared with its southern, historically
less canopy dense, morestressed, and patchy counterpart. This is true
even for peak years (2008-2009) where, given its appropriate
proportion, the highest peak is observed at both locations.
Ethnographic accounts, closely aligned with the strongest warming
events across all locations, also show synchronicity with other events of
lower intensity. This was evident for El Rosario in 1996, that people
remember as more noticeable in terms of water temperature and surface
canopy coverage dropped below 1000 g/m². Similar observations are
noted in other locations, such as Isla Natividad in 2009, where fishers
observed the impact of climate change on biological species.
In the northern portion of BahıaAsuncio
n, fishers also reported
positive outcomes, such as an increase in the abundance of giant kelp
in 2001. This initial observation of kelp recovery marked a trend of
more desirable kelp surface coverage compared to the previous
lustrum, despite some downfalls. Kelp surface coverage in the region
remained relatively constant until 2008, when there was a massive
increase in canopy biomass. After 2008, the trend stabilized until the
population was negatively affected by the “Blob”. Following this event,
cooperatives struggled economically and were unable to implement
kelp restoration programs, compounded by the market closures
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
3.2 Fisheries abundance
Parallel to what has been observed for oceanographic and giant
kelp coverage patterns, fisheries abundance, by itself as well as
combined with oceanographic data, becomes more informative
when combined with ethnographic accounts and vignettes (Figure 7).
For example, in El Rosario during the period from 2014 to 2016
the sea cucumber and abalone catches notably decreased, while
lobster catches grew amid a “Blob”+ ENSO event, allowing
cooperative members to report increased profits. It is worth
mentioning that, along with lobster, there is a marked overall
positive trend for sheepshead (Figure 7A).
For the same period, 2014 to 2016, and extending slightly
towards 2017, survey data for Isla Natividad shows a steady
decline in abalone density and a more dramatic but similar trend
for lobster and sea cucumber compared to El Rosario. However, in
Isla Natividad, there is some recognition that abalone populations
were overexploited during this period, which adds more context to
the abrupt decline in abalone and sea cucumber populations prior
to 2014-2016 marine heatwaves, which marks an abrupt negative
trend for lobsters and sea cucumbers in this location (Figure 7B).
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FIGURE 6
Timelines for five different cooperatives in the Baja California Peninsula constructed through ethnographic data. Condensed bullet points illustrate
the events reported as changes or shocks by the five fishing cooperatives along the northern Pacific coast. These results are derived from
ethnographic data collected during workshops and individual interviews with key stakeholders from each cooperative: (A) SCPP Ensenada from El
Rosario, (B) SCPP Pescadores Nacionales de Abulon from Isla Cendros and Islas San Benito, (C) SCPP Buzos y Pescadores de la Baja California from
Isla Natividad, (D) SCPP California San Ignacio from Bahıa Asuncion and (E) SCPP Ribereña Leyes de Reforma from Bahıa Asuncion. Acronyms in the
figure: PEMEX (Petroleos Mexicanos, the government owned Mexican oil company), COBI (Comunidad y Biodiversidad, a Mexican NGO promoting
resilient societies and healthy oceans), INAPESCA (Instituto Nacional de Pesca, Mexican Institute for Fisheries, now IMIPAS), CFE (Comision Federal
de Electricidad, government owned Mexican electricity company).
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FIGURE 8
Time series of temperature at ~15 m depth from (A) Isla Natividad and (B) El Rosario. These time series combine oceanographic and ethnographic
data collected for each location, resulting in a better and more accurate understanding of the oceanographic history of these places.
FIGURE 7
Time series of abundance (mean abundance (SE)) and major events detected by fishers for four cooperatives in Baja California and Baja California Sur, Mexico
(A) El Rosario, (B) Isla Natividad, (C) Isla Cedros and Islas San Benito and (D) California San Ignacio Bahıa Asuncion. Lines represent species of economic interest
to the cooperatives (red: abalone, green: lobster, purple: sea cucumber and pink: sheepshead). Note that the years differ between cooperatives.
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For the members of the Pescadores Nacionales de Abulon
cooperative form Isla Cedros and Islas San Benito, as well as
those pertaining to the California San Ignacio cooperative of
Bahıa Asuncion, the information on the ethnographic timeline
goes further back than the ecological monitoring (Figure 7C).
Additionally, due to insecurity and the overall political situation
of the area, and as our research has not yet finished processing
ethnographic data on Isla Cedros and Islas de San Benito, we
decided to present the graph as is to compare it with that of
California San Ignacio, for which we have an ethnographic
timeline and similarly species survey data.
3.3 Calendars
So far, our research has presented enough evidence to argue that
timelines are useful in analyzing past alterations, affections, and
responses. However, to harness all the predictive power of
combined oceanographic, ecological, and ethnobiological data, it
is necessary to build a monitoring tool, capable of registering daily
records of human perception. These features will add far more
resolution than that provided by corporate records and cooperative
members’memories in a timeline. One such tool is an
ethnobiological calendar, which constructed with local ecological
knowledge and life histories data generates a robust database
capable of supporting the development of adaptation plans in
response to various stressors (Narchi et al., 2024) and changing
climate regimes.
Corporate memories consist of individual accounts on cyclical
variability, regardless of its nature (administrative, climatic,
ecological, economic, managerial, or political, to name a few).
These individual accounts, when put together create cultural
consensus around specific topics. In the case of seasons and
phenologies attached to seasonal change the cultural consensus
forms calendars (Figure 9). These calendars allow for
understanding the natural trends occurring around a period,
typically a year.
Throughout our research, with the help of local participants, we
created primal calendars, representing normal and abnormal (hot
or cold) years for four of the cooperatives. The provision of cold and
hot year calendars helps in trying to sort out natural variation from
shock events, which, to the best of our knowledge, is still an
unresolved theme in terms of perception. Each of these calendars
displays the seasons as described by the local participants which, in
the case of the two cooperatives, is marked in two easily
distinguishable seasons: a) Summer and b) Winter. One
cooperative California San Ignacio (Figure 10) divided
distinguished a) Summer, b) Spring and c) Lobster season
(winter). Making it clear that this is a corporate memory driven
primarily by economic interests and aspirations.
Additionally, the distinctions include characterization such as
summer being associated with hot weather and cold water, while
winter is characterized by cold and rainy weather and the advent of
warm waters. These two seasons also correspond with the opening
of the season for catching two main key species within the region:
lobster which is caught in winter, and abalone which is caught
FIGURE 9
Ethnobiological calendar of the four most relevant resources chosen by Cooperativa Ensenada from El Rosario, Baja California. This calendar indicates
information based on what occurs during a “normal year.”The calendar was divided into months and the year was subdivided into two seasons: winter
and summer. Observations regarding winds, tides, rains, and other aspects deemed relevant by the community were recorded. Finally, the fishers
selected the most significant species (abalone, lobster, sea cucumber, and sea urchin) and assigned a section of the calendar to each, indicating fishing
seasons, reproduction periods, closures, and other significant events for their activities. Created by Gabriela Sandoval using project data and adapted
from Narchi et al. (2024) under Cc by - NC 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
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during summer. The most noticeable feature of these calendars is
that the seasons for different fisheries can be related to phenological
observations. In the case of Cooperativa Ensenada (Figure 9),
for example, the sea urchin season ends while lobsters become
less abundant. This is also the best time to clip sargassum
(Gelidium robustum).
Similarly, people in the cooperative can also relate other
phenomena to specificfisheries. A good example of this happens
from June to August where a larger number of dolphins present in
the area indicate the arrival of tuna, sardine and yellowtail at the
same time that beaches become rocky due to sand transport outside
of the bay. On Isla Natividad, the indicator for the seasonal arrival
of fish stocks are Hermann’s seagulls (Larus heermanni) that live in
the Gulf of California throughout the mating season (Figure 11).
In parallel, in Bahıa Asuncion, fishers from the cooperative
California San Ignacio, start their lobster season on early October
(Figure 10), this should be interpreted as a social mediation tool that
prevents their fisheries and market opportunities from overlapping
with the capturing of lobsters by the Ribereña Leyes de Reforma
cooperative. They start their lobster season after the presence of
heavy rains (Figure 12). Many of the local participants emphasized
that it is in those years that it rains the most that they have achieved
the highest lobster catches. Some of the retired fishers we
interviewedagreedtothatbyusinganoldsaying“the more
pitaya (prickly pear) there is, the larger the lobster catch you will
get”arguing that copious rains make more abundant pitaya harvest
and that seems to be a useful proxy for predicting a good
lobster season.
4 Discussion
This research, representing a possible way in which to integrate
qualitative and quantitative data from ecological, oceanographic,
and ethnographic sources, show that constructing ecological and
climatic timelines from corporate memories and individual
experiences of cyclical weather patterns is a promising approach
for developing new forecasting tools for informing natural resource
management and climate adaptation. These tools rely not only on
statistical abstraction and dataprocessingbutalsoondirect
experience (cf. Haskell, 2017).
Our findings demonstrate that local fishers possess a vast body
of knowledge specific to their fishing territories. By drawing on
corporate memories and fishers’perceptions of marine heatwaves,
hypoxia, storms, seasonal changes, kelp cover, record catches,
overexploitation, and resource depletion, fishers construct a
relational ontology (sensu Escobar, 2014). This enables both
fishers and researchers to understand the dynamics of local
fisheries in relation to climate and ecological variability
throughout Baja California. These perceptions align with
documented literature, oceanographic data, satellite imagery, and
ecological monitoring.
Significant changes in the oceanography of Baja California
during El Niño years, which dramatically affect the region’sflora
and fauna, can be accurately described through these collective
memories and individual experiences. This suggests that using these
memories to develop detailed ethnobiological calendars could lead
to new local records. When supplemented with daily entries, these
FIGURE 10
Ethnobiological Fishing Calendar for a Normal Year of the S.C.P.P. California San Ignacio S.C.L. of Bahıa Asuncion, Baja California Sur. The calendar
was divided into lobster season, spring, and summer. Fishermen selected the most significant species (abalone, lobster, sea snail, and scale fish) and
assigned a section of the calendar to each, indicating fishing seasons, reproduction periods, closures, and other significant events for their activities.
They also identified warm years as abnormal years.
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records could serve as predictive tools for forecasting local
climate change.
It is evident that environmental extremes such as marine
heatwaves, storms, and escalating hypoxia are being detected by
people working on the waterfronts (sensu Doyle et al., 2018), who
spend considerable time at sea—whether fishing from the surface or
diving for abalone, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. This extended
exposure, including the shorter but regular time SCUBA and
FIGURE 12
Ethnobiological Fishing Calendar for a Normal Year by the S.C.P.P. “Ribereña Leyes de Reforma,”S.C. de R.L. of Bahıa Asuncion, Baja California Sur.
They decided not to divide the year into seasons but to use months instead. Fishermen selected the most significant species (scale fish, lobster,
abalone, and sea snail) and assigned a section of the calendar to each, indicating fishing seasons, reproduction periods, closures, and other
significant events for their activities. They also identified abnormal years, such as cold years and warm years.
FIGURE 11
Ethnobiological Fishing Calendar for a Normal Year by the S.C.P.P. Buzos y Pescadores de la Baja California, S.C.L. of Isla Natividad, Baja California
Sur, Mexico. The calendar was divided into winter-fall and spring-summer seasons. Fishermen selected the most significant species (scale fish,
abalone, lobster, and sea cucumber) and assigned a section of the calendar to each, indicating fishing seasons, reproduction periods, closures, and
other significant events for their activities. They also identified warm years as abnormal years.
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hookah divers invest in gathering their products, allows for constant
observation of marine resources. Thus, those working on the
waterfront can witness firsthand the impacts of external shocks
and changing climate regimes on these resources (Rudiak-Gould,
2013). This experience and the expertise it develops are deeply
connected to place—both physically, socially, and culturally—
honoring the local ecological knowledge that emerges from
this connection.
Consequently, local participants corroborate, through their own
empirical observations, what has been independently described in
terms of oceanographic variability affecting ecological settings
(Micheli et al., 2012;2024,Arafeh-Dalmau et al., 2019;Cavanaugh
et al., 2019). A good example of this is that in spite of knowing that
ENSO events produce an overall northward displacement of fauna in
the Mexican Pacific(Lluch-Belda et al., 2005) individual species, such
as the Pacific spiny lobster, tend to display positive associations with
warm ENSO events in terms of larval survival and subsequent
recruitment (cf. Koslow et al., 2012), as can be seen in Figures 7A,
Bfor lobster abundance both in El Rosario and Isla Natividad, for the
years of 2017-2018 and 2005-2010 respectively. Previous attempts to
evaluate the socio-ecological vulnerability of cooperatives in this area
have already made use of social sciences approaches to understand
the impacts and responses of Baja California fishing cooperatives
when confronted with oceanographic, ecological and market change
(e.g., Micheli et al., 2024). Such attempts allowed for building a
coherent narrative on the history of events connected with
environmental and market change, especially those directly related
to the post-hoc analysis of management actions leading to successful
adaptation after any given shock.
Despite these valuable efforts, the results have primarily served as
areflexive tool for fishing cooperatives and their members to analyze
past scenarios rather than anticipate future challenges. When
oceanographic data is presented to these cooperatives, only their
technical advisors—those formally trained in oceanography,
aquaculture, or marine biology—can interpret the data collected by
moorings and analyzed by research teams. This situation echoes
Rudiak-Gould’s (2013) reflection on how statistical abstractions
have contributed to the notion that climate change is visible
only to specialists, thereby relegating the public to a passive role of
merely supporting experts, while underestimating the value of
everyday experiences.
However, individuals in these communities often possess an
accurate understanding of cyclical weather patterns and maintain
corporate memories of climatic and ecological aspects vital to their
livelihoods. This calls for a re-evaluation of their role as essential
actors who offer a unique and valuable perspective on the pressing
problems posed by emerging climate patterns. Although previous
attempts to leverage local ecological knowledge to predict the
impact of climate variability on small-scale fisheries (e.g., Cavole
et al., 2020) have not succeeded in generating predictive scenarios,
and while other methods, such as detecting early weather conditions
through encounters with potential climate sentinel species (Early-
Capistran et al., 2024), have proven useful, they remain limited.
These approaches often fail to infer ecological conditions across
entire ecosystems due to a lack of focus on system connectivity.
The approach we describe allows for constructing systematic
connectivity among all elements of the ecosystem by recording and
analyzing phenology and combining this with oceanographic and
ecological data, such as temperature, fisheries catch, and habitat
coverage. A larger set of data (e.g., dissolved oxygen, water density,
non-commercial species abundance) can be integrated with the
original data to strengthen these relationships. This approach
enables systematic follow-up analyses to create new yearly
calendars with the help of fishers and divers.
Data from corporate memories and local ecological knowledge can
be recorded as daily observations of all phenological aspects already
described here and elsewhere (Winter et al., 2020;Balick et al., 2022;
Franco et al., 2022;Narchi et al., 2024). An example from our research
results makes evident these connections. In Isla Natividad,
oceanographic sensors have been collecting data for the past 11 years;
some members of the fishing cooperative have learned to interpret the
results and they used this information for decision making in about their
fisheries.Butbeforethelastwarmingeventthattookplacein2023,the
members from the Isla Natividad cooperative made decisions in
advanced of their abalone fishing season (fishing quotas) based on: 1)
theirpreviousexperiencewithother warming events, where massive
abalone mortalities have taken place, and 2) the time series of the
oceanographic parameters measured with the sensors. In an interview in
Isla Natividad (June 14, 2023), one of the youngest members of the
cooperative mentioned that after observing the effects of ENSO events
on abalone in previous years, along with the oceanographic conditions
recorded by sensors, they decided to take preventive measures for 2023.
These measures implied they would set a lower quota and harvest the
product within the fishing season but before it was impacted by ENSO.
As far as the cooperative’sandourrecordsgo,thislevelofforesighthas
no precedents and is a direct result of combining human perception
with oceanographic information in ways that are intelligible and
culturally relevant to local communities.
Given the substantial amount of data derived from corporate
memories, this method also allows for the future reconstruction of
previously unrecorded stock sizes for past fisheries seasons (c.f.,
Early-Capistran et al., 2020) once methodologies are adapted for the
species in the area. A fishing cooperative that can successfully
manage its corporate memory over generations will be at an
advantage in terms of adaptation and decision-making. Retaining
knowledge about best practices, fishing techniques, seasonal
patterns, and local ecological conditions is vital for sustainable
fishing practices and maximizing yields, thereby maintaining
operational efficiency and effectiveness (Argote, 2012). Historical
data and past decisions serve as critical references for informed
decision-making, helping organizations navigate current and future
challenges (Caswell et al., 2020). Moreover, corporate memory
preserves the cooperative’s culture and community values,
fostering a sense of identity and solidarity crucial for collaborative
efforts and mutual support (Schein, 2010). In times of crisis, such as
environmental disasters or market fluctuations, well-documented
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corporate memory allows for swift implementation of effective
response strategies based on past experiences (Pearson and Clair,
1998;Stark, 2020;Fulton, 2023).
Organizational memory loss has been attributed to aspects such
as rapid changes, poor data-management and the failure to value
knowledge (Pollitt, 2000). By creating narratives around their
information, collaborating with local and international research
centers and organizations, the Baja California cooperatives have
reduced the loss of information over time and successfully managed
their corporate memory over generations, contributing to their
operational efficiency, sustainability and resilience.
As fisheries science increasingly recognizes the need for
collaboration with anthropologists to enhance fisheries management
and conservation (Ingles, 2007;Jentoft, 2020), it is essential to
understand that the long-standing human presence in the ocean
provides valuable data, often shaped by culture and vital for
sustaining societies and livelihoods. Longitudinal timelines are
crucial for tracking changes in fishing cooperatives over time,
enabling retrospective evaluations of responses to shocks. When
combined with ecological, oceanographic, and ethnobiological data,
these timelines improve scientific forecasts by providing a temporal
matrix for tracking changes and establishing links between these
changes and human experiences. This approach reveals how social
or environmental factors influence cooperative operations and, in
turn, how internal dynamics within cooperatives shape broader
decision-making processes. While the costs of systematizing this
approach are unclear, its initial benefits include empowering
individuals and fishing cooperatives—who have unique
socioeconomic, political, and cultural stakes in the matter—to
influence public policy on resource management and conservation
(Aswani, 2020) and develop effective climate change management
programs based on their observations and past decisions (Micheli
et al., 2024).
In the context of local ecological knowledge, calendars
transcend mere timekeeping tools; they embody a wealth of
knowledge rooted in the interactions between human
communities and their natural environment. Ethnobiological
calendars (Narchi et al., 2024) serve a variety of functions ranging
from social organization (Moura, 2017) to decision-making in
biological resource management (Campos et al., 2018). By
integrating local observations of climate, water, phenology, animal
behavior, they offer a holistic view of the world around us (Narchi
et al., 2024).
While providing a snapshot of knowledge at a specific moment,
local calendars are essential for understanding the temporal
dynamics of human activities and their impacts on the
environment. In the case of Baja California, for two hundred
years the members of different fishing cooperatives have
developed local ecological knowledge and corporate memories by
understanding natural patterns that, in our opinion, have emerged
not from understanding something, but from taking a close look at
everything regardless of how hard it is to integrate numerous data
derived from different epistemologies. While providing a snapshot
of knowledge at a specific moment, the creation of timelines has led
us to appreciate the existence of corporate memories as being much
denser in cyclical ecological information; ethnobiological calendars,
which transcend timekeeping to embody a wealth of knowledge
rooted in the interactions between human communities and their
natural environment.
Presently, we are actively working with cooperative members to
conceive and create a calendar that can be fed with daily entries. The
completion of this tool, we assume, will allow us to depart from
observing correspondence between different events to quantitatively
prove correlation between them. A challenge worth pursuing is to
lobby for these calendars to become an instrument for consensual
decision making between fishers, environmental authorities, and
policy makers as reconstructing these calendars entails not only
preserving traditional knowledge but also fostering equitable
dialogue between different forms of knowledge, such as technical
and local knowledge, in pursuit of sustainable and contextually and
locally relevant solutions.
Following the logic involved in creating these patterns, this
article offers an incipient methodology to create local weather
forecasts. This methodology should be followed with attention
and the tools should be crafted with careful observation to detail
as they recreate the fisheries’transactional relationship, not with
something else, but with everything else.
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included
in the article/supplementary material. Further inquiries can be
directed to the corresponding author.
Ethics statement
The studies involving humans were approved by Panel on
non-medical human subjects, Stanford University. The studies
were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and
institutional requirements. The participants provided their
written informed consent to participate in this study. Written
informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the
publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included
in this article.
Author contributions
IG-T: Writing –review & editing, Writing –original draft,
Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data
curation. CO-J: Visualization, Formal analysis, Data curation,
Writing –review & editing, Methodology, Investigation. CW:
Writing –review & editing, Visualization, Validation,
Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation. NA-D:
Writing –review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Methodology,
Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation. JT: Writing –review &
editing, Project administration, Investigation, Funding acquisition.
SF: Writing –review & editing. FM: Supervision, Resources, Project
administration, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Writing –
review & editing. RO’C: Writing –review & editing. MP-D:
Garibay-Toussaint et al. 10.3389/fmars.2024.1458059
Frontiers in Marine Science frontiersin.org16
Investigation, Writing –review & editing. AH-V: Writing –review &
editing. NN: Data curation, Writing –review & editing, Writing –
original draft, Validation, Supervision, Methodology, Investigation,
Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Conceptualization.
Funding
The author(s) declare financial support was received for the
research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work
was supported by grants from the US National Science Foundation
(grants DEB121244, BioOce 1736830 and DISES 2108566), The
Pew Charitable Trust, The Walton Family Foundation, Packard
Foundation, Marisla Foundation, Sander Family Foundation, and
Estate Winifred Violet Scott.
Acknowledgments
We thanks Arli de Luca and Frontiers’reviewers for their robust
suggestions and edits. We have utilized the assistance of OpenAI's
language model, ChatGPT-4 (v2.0), to edit and improve the
wording of the introduction and methods section of our
document. ChatGPT-4 is a large-scale language model, trained by
OpenAI, and was employed to enhance clarity and precision in
the text.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be
construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors
and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the
reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or
endorsed by the publisher.
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