title: Use of ichthyofauna by artisanal fishermen at two protected areas along the coast of Northeast Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fishing is one of the oldest human activities and constitutes a source of income and livelihood for millions of people, particularly in coastal regions. This study aimed to characterize the types of fish use and test whether there is a relationship between uses of fish in the communities studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted during the months of January to October 2013, on the beaches of Tamandaré and Batoque, both located in Northeast Brazil. Information was collected through interviews with 75 artisanal marine fishermen on the fishes they knew and their forms of use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The fishermen interviewed were male, between 22 and 84 years old, and they had been fishing for over 10 years and had a low educational level. Fishermen from Tamandaré mentioned 339 popular fish names, representing 222 taxa, while Batoque fishermen mentioned 305 popular fish names, representing 215 taxa. Six types of uses of fish were characterized: food, commercial, medicinal, handicrafts, spiritual-religious purposes and aquarium. It was found that there were multiple uses for fish and that there was a relationship between these different uses, reinforcing the importance that fish have on the culture and economic activities of fishing communities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Artisanal fishing should be understood as a cultural activity, because the different and multiple uses fish make up the dynamics of fishing communities. Just as in the areas of this study, some of these communities are included in protected areas and, therefore, fishermen must be involved in the development and implementation of management plans of these units.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil. marcia_freirep@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Marcia Freire
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil. tramataia@gmail.com.|Biology Department, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Av. das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, 58429-500, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. tramataia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: José Silva
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mourão
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900, Recife, PE, Brazil. romulo_nobrega@yahoo.com.br.|Biology Department, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Av. das Baraúnas, 351, Bairro Universitário, 58429-500, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. romulo_nobrega@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Alves
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult