Priorities of marine ethnobiology: reflections from the perspective of sustainable marine management

Abstract This essay examines the priorities of marine ethnobiology amid the urgent, increasingly irreversible degradation of our oceans. A dilemma arises between choosing to safeguard the practices and resources most valued for their usefulness or economic worth and prioritizing the preservation and revitalization of traditional knowledge, regardless of its immediate practical applications. I argue that the solution, from the standpoint of sustainable marine management, transcends this dichotomy. The answer lies in reviving, understanding, and transforming all the diverse knowledge systems that emerge from the relationships between humans and marine ecosystems so that urgency does not obscure our historical and holistic understanding of our connection to the sea. Marine ethnobiology bridges this divide by integrating the holistic knowledge of communities and deepening our understanding of these relationships. Strengthening place-based knowledge systems can yield critical nature-based solutions to our global environmental crisis.