Changes in local knowledge and its impacts on ecological resources management: The case of flyingfish culture of the Tao in Taiwan

摘要

The use of local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been advocated for coastal ecological and environmental resource management (EERM), noting that successful management on the resources has been implemented for centuries by many coastal societies based on their LEK. However, changes in LEK are observed in many instances worldwide and have caused impacts on the EERM. This study reports industry-, government- and culture-driven changes of a LEK and the impacts of the changes on the environment. Taking the Tao of Taiwan's Orchid Island as an example, the connotations and trend of their flyingfish culture are analyzed. Specifically, the five conditions for achieving effective EERM established by Dietz et al. (2003) are used as the theoretical basis to analyze the impact of LEK changes on environmental change. The findings indicated that this culture complies with the conditions proposed and proved that application of the flyingfish culture to the management of Orchid Island's marine and fishery resources has its theoretical basis and advantages. However, the flyingfish culture was found to be facing major changes which has violated the conditions for effective management of shared resources. Various external factors have contributed to the changes in the flyingfish culture. These include the impacts of inappropriate government policies, modern science and technology, education, and the market economy. Especially, inappropriate policies have reduced the integrity of the flyingfish cultural landscape, incentivized the use of motorized boats, commodified the flyingfish, and expanded the market for related products. Some suggestions for managing the changes to the culture are proposed.