Strengthening community-based fisheries monitoring programs with Indigenous perspectives

Community-based monitoring (CBM) programs are increasingly recognized as essential for adaptive environmental stewardship. Yet, the CBM literature often highlights successful cases and privileges evaluations by external experts over those of community members themselves. To address this gap, we drew on insights from 23 semistructured interviews with Cree fishers, community members, and program administrators of the James Bay Cree Nation of Wemindji (Eeyou Istchee, northern Québec). The respondents participated in a 22-year subsistence fishing monitoring program. Interviews explored participants' experiences with the program and their interpretations of interannual variations in fishing activity based on the monitoring data. Although a general decline in annual fish catches was observed, data accuracy and utility were constrained by inconsistencies in monitoring protocols. Respondents identified several opportunities for improvement, including expanding fishers' roles beyond data collection; incorporating Cree knowledge, particularly women's knowledge, in program design; and ensuring the timely and accessible communication of results. Our findings showed that CBM initiatives grounded in full Indigenous participation at all stages-from design to data interpretation and use-can enhance both program outcomes and self-determined environmental stewardship. To support similar efforts elsewhere, we codeveloped an evaluation rubric outlining key criteria for assessing and strengthening current and future Indigenous CBM programs.