Climatic benchmarks among Senegalese fishermen : what has changed

ICAWA : International Conference AWA, Mindelo, CPV, 13-/11/2017 - 17/11/2017Senegalese artisanal fishermen, in their fishing activity, cut the year into four fishing seasons (autumn, winter, spring, and summer). Each of these seasons is characterized by a type of regular natural phenomena that they observe for decades that serve as benchmarks for determining their duration (beginning, middle and end). The benchmarks on these four fishing seasons are the presence of stars (types of stars) the presence of certain species (types of fish types of birds), the temperature of the air and water, types of winds, the nature of the sea. It is from these benchmarks that they measure the evolutions (variation and change) observed in each season in order to be able to adapt their activities accordingly. The changes noted by the fishermen concern the disturbances on noted the duration of the periods of cold and periods of heat such as initially recorded according to the seasons, the disturbances on the marks on the movement of the fish according to the seasons. Thus, through the expression 'there are no more seasons as before', the fishermen note the appearance of discrepancies between the current seasonal cycles and the seasonal cycles of the 60s attesting to a loss of benchmarks due to irregularities of certain phenomena that characterized each season. Climate change thus appears through the'ruptures' between what the old fishermen now live compared to what they used to live