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Note from the editor

Finally, I think we can celebrate, for this is the first issue of this particular Special Interest Group Bulletin that is based entirely on submitted manuscripts. Not only that, we overflowed, and have had to delay some articles until the next issue. But gentle reader, please don’t relax even a little, for this laudable trend will never continue without your constant efforts.

In the first article, A cultural consensus analysis of marine ecological knowledge in the Solomon Islands, Kevin L. Grant and Marc L. Miller examine the merits of “cultural consensus analysis” and apply it to a case study of the ecological knowledge of Solomon Islanders. The authors are particularly interested in any differences between officially protected and unprotected areas, based on the assertions that practical, behaviour-oriented, and observation-based, local marine environmental knowledge is relevant to fisheries management and that the success or failure of conservation efforts depends largely on the attitudes of communities.

In Tabus or not taboos?: How to use traditional environmental knowledge to support sustainable development of marine resources in Melanesia, Anne Caillaud et al. summarise the results of a workshop on Traditional Knowledge and Coastal Resource Conservation for Countries and States of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, held at the International Marine Project Activities Centre (IMPAC) in Townsville, Australia, during March–April 2004. The workshop sought underlying principles and themes to enhance the use and recognition of local or traditional knowledge and laws to improve biodiversity conservation and management of coastal resources. The case studies collated in this article examine linkages between customary laws, especially fisheries management, and existing government regulations, the objective being to ensure that those regulations fully embrace customary practices. The studies demonstrate where local or traditional and customary management practices have been recognised within national laws, and suggest how appropriate local or traditional aspects can be drafted into policy and law within the different levels of government (local, provincial or state, national or federal; and international within multilateral environment agreements). The studies could be used to establish better cooperation between traditional and “modern” knowledge and ensure optimal use of national marine resources in other coastal regions.

So much for the contents. In addition, I would like to draw your attention to SPC Special Interest Group newsletters and bulletins: Guidelines for authors and editors, which you can download from SPC’s website at: http://www.spc.int/coastfish/News/SIG_guidelines.pdf. It should help with your future submissions.

We are also considering instituting some form of referee system for submissions. This is being done because we are well aware that some potential authors (especially those in academic institutions) may not wish to submit to a non-refereed journal because it does nothing for their career advancement. Some of the papers we now receive reflect considerable hard work, and it is a pity that authors cannot use them for promotion. On the other hand, we realise that some authors have no need of this, and we have no wish to deter them from submitting useful and informative articles. However, now may be the time to admit that I have been informally circulating some of the contributions (with authors’ names removed) among colleagues, peers and friends to elicit opinions on suitability and quality. So, in effect, I have been operating this bulletin as a semi-refereed journal for several years now. Any opinions on what should be adopted as policy?

Kenneth Ruddle ( mb5k-rddl@asahi-net.or.jp)

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