From ichthyology to ethnoknowledge: popular knowledge, environmental perceptions and sense of environmental conservation of river land inhabitants. Luciana Pinheiro Acta Scientiarum Biological Sciences, 2004 The purpose of this paper is to describe the potential of empirical knowledge or practice related to fishes and, in more general terms, the environmental perceptions of the population living alongside the Piraí river, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Its point of departure is initial research that resulted in a preliminary ichthyological inventory of the river, from which methodological procedures relative to the qualitative dimension of the study were developed. Based on the testimony of the river land inhabitants, obtained through semi-structured interviews, analytical categories providing an ethnographic typology were developed. This typology was then used in the analysis of the testimony of the study's informants, arriving at the conclusion that an ichthyological study based on dialogue with popular knowledge can be very valuable, given the local people's sense of environmental conservation as it is linked to their sustainable life style
