Level 3 is now unlocked for all volunteers - so you can keep classifying away and helping us identify and count fish within the photos. Not a fish ID expert? No worries - we have tips and tricks in our tutorials and field guide. Feel free to reach out to our research team via the Talk Boards with any fish ID questions.
Welcome to the FISHstory Project! We have four workflows where you can help us collect information from historic dock photos. Start with LEVEL 1 and unlock additional levels as you classify more photos. If you're not a fish ID expert, no worries! We welcome all and encourage you to use our Field Guide to help identify fish and provide your best guess. Thank you for your participation!
The collection of SAFMC FISHstory information is authorized under the OMB Control Number included in the Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing Information Collection page.
Zooniverse Talk
Chat with the research team and other volunteers!
FISHstory Statistics
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Message from the researcher
The Stone and Timmons families are encouraged by the FISHstory efforts... We are proud to help in this effort, and hope other SAFMC for-hire communities can provide similar historical images to augment FISHstory.
FISHstoryAbout FISHstory
Travel back to the docks of the South Atlantic U.S. in the 1940s-80s through the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's citizen science project, FISHstory. Catch monitoring programs for the charter and headboat fleets In the South Atlantic U.S. didn’t get underway until the late 1970s. These historic photos are an untapped source of information.
With your help, we can build a more complete picture of the South Atlantic fishery prior to dedicated catch monitoring programs. Knowing the relative amount and type of fish caught over time can provide insights on the health of fish populations. These data will not only help identify historic catches but can also help us figure out if there have been changes in catch over time. Thank you for your participation!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Photos for the initial FISHstory pilot project are from Captain Frank Timmons, along with Captain Jake Stone and Captain Bob Stone courtesy of Rusty Hudson. Additional photos have been provided by Captain Billy Smitherman, Captain Robert Freeman, Captain Rom Whitaker, Captain Chuck Griffin, Captain Jon Reynolds, Captain Richard Gomez and Captain Bill Wickers, Captain Judy Helmey and Miss Judy Charters, Captain Skip Nielsen, the Sanitary Restaurant and Jeff Garner, Florida Keys History Center / Monroe County Library, Cathy Owen and Charles C. Owen Jr., Bud N Mary’s Marina, Tom Hackey and Dick Brame, and Jerry Kurent.
Funding for the FISHstory project has come from NOAA Fisheries’ Fisheries Information Systems Grant Program, the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program, and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Species descriptions were created with the help of SharkCam Fishes provided by Erin Burge, Christopher O'Brien, and jon-newbie.
Burge EJ, CE O’Brien and jon-newbie. 2019. SharkCam Fishes. A Guide to Nekton at Frying Pan Tower. 4th edition.
Los Angeles: Explore.org Ocean Frontiers. 194 pp. Available online http://explore.org/live-cams/player/shark-cam.