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Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management.

ABSTRACT: Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, demonstrating the value of historical data for evaluating the past, present, and future of Earth's ecosystems. Despite several important studies, Indigenous fisheries generally receive less attention from scholars and managers than the 17th-20th century capitalist commercial fisheries that decimated many keystone species, including oysters. We investigate Indigenous oyster harvest through time in North America and Australia, placing these data in the context of sea level histories and historical catch records. Indigenous oyster fisheries were pervasive across space and through time, persisting for 5000-10,000 years or more. Oysters were likely managed and sometimes "farmed," and are woven into broader cultural, ritual, and social traditions. Effective stewardship of oyster reefs and other marine fisheries around the world must center Indigenous histories and include Indigenous community members to co-develop more inclusive, just, and successful strategies for restoration, harvest, and management.

SUBMITTER: Reeder-Myers L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9065011 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management.

Reeder-Myers Leslie L Braje Todd J TJ Hofman Courtney A CA Elliott Smith Emma A EA Garland Carey J CJ Grone Michael M Hadden Carla S CS Hatch Marco M Hunt Turner T Kelley Alice A LeFebvre Michelle J MJ Lockman Michael M McKechnie Iain I McNiven Ian J IJ Newsom Bonnie B Pluckhahn Thomas T Sanchez Gabriel G Schwadron Margo M Smith Karen Y KY Smith Tam T Spiess Arthur A Tayac Gabrielle G Thompson Victor D VD Vollman Taylor T Weitzel Elic M EM Rick Torben C TC

Nature communications 20220503 1

Historical ecology has revolutionized our understanding of fisheries and cultural landscapes, demonstrating the value of historical data for evaluating the past, present, and future of Earth's ecosystems. Despite several important studies, Indigenous fisheries generally receive less attention from scholars and managers than the 17th-20th century capitalist commercial fisheries that decimated many keystone species, including oysters. We investigate Indigenous oyster harvest through time in North ...[more]

PMID: 35504907

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Dataset Information

Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management.

Publications

Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management.

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