Fishes of the World In the Computer

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Fishes of the WorldIn the Computer
Rainer Froese Germany rfroese_at_ifm-geomar.de
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The Vision

• Back in 1987, two scientists had an idea
• Create a database with key-information on 200
  commercial fish species
• Use it for research
• Make it available to 500 fisheries managers in
  developing countries
• 19 years later
• The database contains information on 29,000
  species
• It has over 1,000 citations in the scientific
  literature
• It has about 2 million visitors per month in the
  Internet

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If these stocks were Stocks
January 2006 23 million hits 3 million visitors
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And the Winner Is
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Why Fish?
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Why Fish?
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Who?
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Where?
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What?
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Where is the Science? Invasive Species
Aquarium Fishes which may Establish themselves in
Hawaii (6 of 111)
Name Species Length (cm) Doubling time (years) Score (n) Established already?
Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus 39 1.4 4.4 83 ?
Guppy Poecilia reticulata 3.5 0.5 44 ?
Green swordtail Xiphophorus hellerii 14 lt 1 23 ?
Redbreast tilapia Tilapia rendalli 45 1.4 4.4 23 ?
Redbelly tilapia Tilapia zillii 40 1.4 4.4 19 ?
Wami tilapia Oreochromis hornorum 24 1.4 4.4 17 -
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Where is the Science? Trends in Global Catches
(Froese and Pauly 2003)
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What Can You Do?

• Stop Overfishing
• Let them Spawn
• Dont Eat Baby Fish
• Get the FisherMin ruler

The David Suzuki Foundation is keen to develop
localized versions
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Greetings from the FishBase Team
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Thanks to our Partners and Sponsors