Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Formal Fisheries Stock Assessment Protocols in Nigeria

This research developed an original integrative methodology for incorporating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of fishing communities into formal fisheries stock assessment protocols in Nigeria, addressing the persistent data gap that undermines evidence-based management of Nigerian artisanal fisheries. Conventional stock assessment methods require systematic catch and effort time series data that are frequently unavailable or unreliable in Nigerian artisanal fisheries contexts, while rich bodies of experientially-derived ecological knowledge held by fishing communities remain systematically excluded from formal assessment processes. The study was conducted in three case study fisheries spanning Nigeria's ecological zones: the Lake Chad Basin inland fishery (Borno State, North East), the Cross River estuarine fishery (Cross River State, South South), and the Sokoto River floodplain fishery (Sokoto State, North West). TEK was elicited using structured and semi-structured interview protocols, participatory resource mapping, seasonal calendars, and knowledge validation workshops with 180 fisher respondents per site. A formal TEK-quantification protocol was developed to convert narrative ecological observations into quantitative indicators compatible with conventional stock assessment frameworks, including relative abundance indices, size-at-first-capture estimates, spawning ground locations, and historical range expansions or contractions. The integrated TEK-enhanced assessments were compared against conventional data-limited assessment outputs using simulation testing. Results demonstrated that TEK integration consistently reduced uncertainty bounds in estimated stock status, improved spatial accuracy of spawning and nursery ground identification, and detected historical stock trends invisible to short-term conventional data series. The study delivers an original, transferable methodological framework for TEK integration and recommends its formalisation as a standard component of stock assessment practice by the Federal Department of Fisheries in data-limited Nigerian fisheries. Keywords: traditional ecological knowledge, stock assessment, data-limited fisheries, TEK integration, community knowledge