Cultural Consensus of Fishermen's and Scientists' Knowledge of Spiny Dogfish in Puget Sound: A First Step toward Policy

摘要

Spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias have historically been a prominent species in the Pacific Northwest. Overfishing, however, has resulted in the curtailment of some commercial dogfish fisheries in Washington State. Historically valuable for oil and alsoas a food fish, dogfish has nevertheless garnered the reputation of a trash fish for its predation on commercial and recreational species, and of a nuisance fish for damage caused to fishing gear. This study employs cultural consensus analysis to compare expert knowledge structures of recreational fishermen and fishery scientists concerning dogfish biology, ecology, and management and conservation in Puget Sound. Results show that fishermen and scientists share a common knowledge base. Cultural consensus findings have positive implications for the future development of hypotheses fundamental in scientific inquiry and also for regulatory and educational functions of dogfish management.