Local Ecological Knowledge and Trend of Catches on Pseudotolithus typus, Lutjanus goreensis and Sphyraena afra from Lagos Coastal Waters, Lagos State, Nigeria

The present study examined the fishers’ knowledge and a ten-year (2009 -2018) trend analysis of prices and catches on Pseudotolithus typus, Lutjanus goreensis and Sphyraena afra from Lagos coastal waters. While data for local ecological knowledge (LEK) were obtained with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire, secondary data collected from both the field and the Federal Department of Fisheries were used to estimate the trend analysis of prices and catch composition respectively. The results showed that prices of all the fish species changed annually, with an annual average increase of 10.85%, 9.25% and 12.03% for P. typus, L. goreensis and S. afra respectively. L. goreensis and S. afra had an annual average increase of fish catch landed of 5.39% and 2.77%, while P. typus had -8.98% annual average decrease of fish landed. All the fishers were males and their modal age group was 41-60years (92.31%), while the least was 21-24years (7.69%). Sixty-nine percent (69%) and 31% of the fishers had secondary and primary school education respectively. Most fishers (69%) had a fishing experience of 21-25 years while the least fishing experience was 6-10 years. Most of the fishers had vast knowledge of the habitat of the fish species, morphological identification, causes of declined fish catches, conservation strategy, seasons of catch and problems of overfishing. In conclusion, this study showed a high level of agreement of fishers' ecological knowledge with the scientific literature, and such synergy could provide important additional biological information that could be used in the process of participative and sustainable management of marine resources.