GIANT FISHES AND HARPOONS: FROM MATERIAL CULTURE TO NEW WAYS OF CONSERVATION

Can a harpoon be an ally for the conservation of fish in a protected area and simultaneously ensure economic stability for small-scale fishers?

My research aims to address this seemingly startling question by studying the case of the community-based management (CBM) schemes for Arapaima gigas, a large predatory freshwater fish in the Amazon.

Special focus will be placed on the impact of the actualisation of the material culture of the fishing-community within the context of the CBM-schemes.

Existing research has so far focused on understanding CBM-schemes through the lens of social-ecological system (SES) theory and ecological and economic monitoring.

Parallel but unconnected research has highlighted that local ontological considerations about technical objects and the fish itself can play an important role in motivating local populations in supporting CBM-schemes. How these aspects connect and relate to economic and social-ecological considerations is unknown.

With my research I aim to develop an integration of material culture and SES-theories, addressing a gap in anthropological theory, study and understanding. Fieldwork will be carried out in communities with and without CBM-schemes in the Jurua-region of the Amazon. The study will follow a mixed-method approach, collecting data through interviews, focus-groups, and surveys.

My research will have tangible relevance for addressing the pressing challenge of a better integration of habitat and species protection with economic development in areas of conservation concern in the Global South.