On traditional knowledge, fish and databases: a call for contributions

Abstract

FISHBASE is a joint project between ICLARM and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and funded by the Commission of the European Communities (CEC). As of September 1992, a third of the over 20,000 fish species in the world have been entered in FISHBASE. These cover over 80% of the world’s fish catch, and include all species used in aquaculture, allcommercial species of the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, most European freshwater species, over 800 African freshwater species, over 1,500 Asian marine species, all freshwater species introduced to another country, all fishes included in the IUCN red list, all marine fishes dangerous to humans,all important game fishes, and more. For all of these species, FISHBASE contains over 8,600 synonyms and over 20,000 common names catalogued by language and country where the name is used, a prime example of traditional knowledge.