Enhancement of the ichthyological data from the Fish Watch participatory science programme
The Fish Watch Forum (FWF for short) is a participatory marine fish observatory which exists to collect chance observations of our coastal species (Western Europe and the Mediterranean), validated by photos.
The FWF was launched by the Peau-Bleue association in 2015. It makes a good tool for collecting, in particular, information on species which are very unlikely to be observed.
Divers, free divers and underwater hikers, amateur or professional fishermen or women, pleasure boaters, day-trippers, or anyone who takes a photo of an interesting or unusual fish can send it to the site and ask a team of volunteer experts to identify it.
In 2019, the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Development and Housing (the DREAL) of Occitanie financed a work of analysis enabling the assessment of the effective contribution of a participatory science programme on the societal level and on that of scientific knowledge in terms of protection and management of the environment and marine species.
That work was carried out by the Biotope Business Foundation, jointly with the Peau-Bleue association.
To consult the FWF site: Fish Watch Forum, base de données participative poissons marins, France, Méditerranée, Europe (fish-watch.org)
Association Peau-Bleue
DREAL Occitanie
2019-2020
France
