TY - JOUR AU - Ferreira-Araújo, Thais AU - Lopes, Priscila Fabiana Macedo AU - Lima, Sergio Maia Queiroz PY - 2021/01/01 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Size matters: identity of culturally important herrings in northeastern Brazil JF - Ethnobiology and Conservation JA - Ethnobio Conserv VL - 10 IS - 0 SE - Original research article DO - 10.15451/ec2020-11-10.07-1-30 UR - https://ethnobioconservation.com/index.php/ebc/article/view/402 SP - AB - <span class="fontstyle0">Fishery statistics are mainly made by recording the popular fish names, which is later translated into scientific identification. However, these names often either refer to a species group and/or vary along their distribution, increasing identification uncertainty. Species that have cultural value for traditional communities are known as culturally important species (CIS). Herein, we assessed Fishers’ Ecological Knowledge to investigate small-silvery herrings (</span><span class="fontstyle2">ginga</span><span class="fontstyle0">) used as part of a traditional dish \ginga com tapioca", that is recognized as a cultural heritage in the Brazilian northeastern. Through 103 interviews conducted in six communities in three states, we determined that </span><span class="fontstyle2">ginga</span><span class="fontstyle0">, although a name known elsewhere, is only traded as such in the metropolitan area of Natal. In this region, </span><span class="fontstyle2">ginga </span><span class="fontstyle0">is caught with drift net and deemed profitable by fishers. We identified both over- and under-differentiation, with </span><span class="fontstyle2">ginga </span><span class="fontstyle0">recognized by fishers as five, and sold as three main species, namely </span><span class="fontstyle2"><em>Opisthonema oglinum</em>, <em>Harengula </em></span><span class="fontstyle0">sp., and </span><em><span class="fontstyle2">Lile piquiting</span><span class="fontstyle2">a</span></em><span class="fontstyle0">. The larger specimens of two of those species (</span><em><span class="fontstyle2">O. oglinum </span></em><span class="fontstyle0">and </span><em><span class="fontstyle2">Harengula </span></em><span class="fontstyle0">sp.) were also traded as sardines. We found that most individuals sold as </span><span class="fontstyle2">ginga </span><span class="fontstyle0">were juveniles, which might impact the recruitment of some fish species. Due to its unique cultural relevance to the local community of Natal, </span><span class="fontstyle2">ginga </span><span class="fontstyle0">could be considered a CIS, which could aid future management or conservation measures.</span><br /><br /> ER -