Fishers’ local knowledge strengthens seagrass restoration planning

Benjamin Lawrence Hopper Jones , Flo Taylor, Emma Fox, Anouska Mendzil, Dylan Tatham, Richard Kazimierz Frank Unsworth

Seagrass restoration is increasingly guided by habitat suitability models, yet restoration outcomes depend on more than biophysical suitability alone. In coastal social-ecological systems, fishers and anglers hold fine-scale, time-integrated knowledge of habitat condition, human use, and local constraints that are rarely incorporated at the outset of restoration planning. Here, we tested whether fisher and angler knowledge could generate a spatially explicit basis for seagrass restoration site selection along the southern Welsh coastline, UK. Using participatory mapping and a Wisdom of Crowds approach, 33 coastal resource users identified locations perceived as suitable for seagrass restoration and areas where restoration should be avoided. Weighting responses by regional participation and converting them into kernel density surfaces, we tested whether participatory-derived suitability predicted independently observed seagrass occurrence and assessed stakeholder perceptions of seagrass benefits. Participatory mapping revealed coherent hotspots of perceived restoration opportunity in sheltered bays and estuarine environments, whereas avoidance areas clustered around ports, sediment-influenced estuaries, and high-use tourism locations, indicating that participants integrated both ecological opportunity and human-use constraints. Net suitability was a strong predictor of seagrass occurrence, demonstrating close correspondence between aggregated local knowledge and observed seagrass distribution. Perceptions of seagrass restoration were broadly positive, with strong agreement that seagrass benefits marine life and the wider environment. Our findings show that fisher and angler knowledge can generate spatially coherent and ecologically meaningful information for restoration planning. Rather than acting as a simple substitute for habitat suitability modelling, participatory mapping functions as a social–ecological diagnostic layer, identifying areas of opportunity, constraint, and potential conflict. Integrating local knowledge early in restoration planning can improve site selection, guide choices between protection, passive recovery and active restoration, and strengthen legitimacy, stewardship, and long-term support for seagrass recovery.