A reciprocal relationship: the human-dolphin cooperative fishing. At Praia da Tesoura, in Laguna southern
Brazil, artisanal net-casting fishers wait for wild Lahille’s bottlenose dolphins to give a cue that discloses the
right time and place to cast their nets over schools of migratory mullet.

Photo by Dr. Carolina Bezamat, Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa
Catarina; Florianópolis, SC 88040-900, Brazil.

By Mauricio Cantor, Bruna Santos-Silva Fábio G. Daura-Jorge, Alexandre M.S. Machado, Débora Peterson, Daiane X. da Rosa, Paulo C. Simões-Lopes, João V.S. Valle-Pereira, Sofia Zank, and Natalia Hanazaki.

Read the full paper here.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities have cultivated reciprocal relationships with nature through century-old cultural practices. One example is artisanal net-casting fishers who have historically maintained positive relationships with nature through a cooperative fishery involving wild dolphins in southern Brazil. However, the persistence of the social-ecological system surrounding this practice remains largely unexplored. This article examines changes in this human-nature relationship over 16 years, based on 188 interviews with fishers. Fishers in sites with more restricted access rely more on net-casting with dolphins, and typically learn the required traditional knowledge through social learning. However, there is a recent declining trend in reliance on dolphins, especially in the more accessible fishing sites. These changes, alongside environmental factors, could impact the long-term resilience of this cultural practice and the livelihoods of traditional fishers. Continuous monitoring is recommended to preserve this unique human-nature relationship.