Tactics and Knowledge: The Captains of Fishing in the Face of Environmental Variability of the Sea

Abstract

This article systematizes the conceptions, beliefs, and knowledge that frame the capture tactics with which the captains of Seybaplaya, Campeche, Mexico, face environmental variability. The information was collected with ethnographic methods (semi-structured interviews, informal talks, and participant observation) and allowed to describe that the fishing maneuvers of the fishermen are not only determined by the seasonal abundance of the species, but also by the effect of currents, tides, phases of the moon, and biological elements such as the presence of algae and bioluminescence. Despite the fact that the present research does not reveal exact calculations of such parameters on their catches, by understanding the motivations that frame the fisherman's decisions, the parameters that must be considered to establish predictive models of the distribution of the gear and the fleet are qualitatively assigned, and therefore more precise calculations of fishing extractions and their distribution.