Objective: Despite perceived ubiquitous access to information via Google and other popular search engines, access to trustworthy and/or peer-reviewed scholarly/scientific literature remains problematic. And with multiple systems for accessing information, knowing where to begin can be a difficult and overwhelming task; particularly if one is not an expert or familiar with a specific area of study. Thus, the objective of this workshop and guide is to introduce you to the various resources and methods for obtaining information on the biology, fisheries, and management of a chosen fish species. Specifically, we'll discuss using the library's research databases to find journal articles, technical reports, government documents, and other materials related to fisheries.

Using the library, databases, or other sources to find information can be complex and frustrating. If you need help at any time, please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help you.

Peter Fritzler
Randall Library, #2074
(2nd floor, NE corner of building)
Phone: 910–962–7807
Email: fritzlerp@uncw.edu
Instant Messager (AIM): peterfritzler1

Contents of this Guide
Encyclopedias and Overview Literature Reviews and Important Journals Finding Scientific Articles	Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) Sources for Statistics Associations & Societies

I. Encyclopedias and Overview Literature
The list of books below provide syntheses, definitions, topic overviews, and bibliographies on a variety of subjects relating to fisheries research. The library maintains many more sources than those listed here, so it is important to browse the shelves around the titles listed below to locate other relevant resources. The Reference Collection is located on the first floor of the library to the right of the library's entrance.

Selected Books (Available in Library's Reference Collection)

1. Compagno, Leonard J.V. Sharks of the World: an Annotated & Illustrated Catalogue.
   Call Number: QL638.9 .C65 

2. Jordan, D.S., and B.W. Evermann. The Fishes of North and Middle America.
   Call Number: QL625 .J82 1963

3. Kernehan, Ronnie J. A Bibliography of Early Life Stages of Fishes. 
   Call Number: QL639.25 .K47 1976

4. Nelson, Joseph S. Fishes of the World. 
   Call Number: QL618 .N4 1994

5. Manooch, Charles S. III. Fishes of the Southeastern United States. 
   Call Number: QL627 .M36 1984

6. Paxton, John R., and William R. Eschmeyer, eds.  Encyclopedia of Fishes.
   Call Number: QL614.7 .E52 1995

7. Wheeler, Alwyne, et al. The World Encyclopedia of Fishes. 
   Call Number: QL614.7 .W48 1985

Return to top

Selected Books (Available in Library's General Collection)

1. Berra, T.M. An Atlas of Distribution of the Freshwater Fish Families of the World. 
   Call Number: QL619 .B47

2. Bond, C.E. Biology of Fishes. 
   Call Number: QL615 .B674 1996

3. Diana, J.S. Biology and Ecology of Fishes. 
   Call Number:  QL639.8 .D5 1995

4. Hart, P.J.B, and J.D. Reynolds, eds. Handbook of Fish Biology and Fisheries.
   Call Number: QL615 .H36 2002

5. Richards, William J., ed. Early Stages Of Atlantic Fishes: An Identification Guide
   for The Western Central North Atlantic.
   Call Number: QL621.2 .E27 2006 (2 volumes)

6. Robins, C.R. et al. World Fishes Important to North Americans; Exclusive of Species from Continental Waters of the U.S. & Canada.
   Call Number: QL618 .W67 1991

Return to top

Selected Websites

1. Annotated Bibliography of Fishing Impacts on Habitat - published by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, February 2000. Access: http://www.gsmfc.org/pubs/Habitat/fishingimpacts.pdf
   
   
2. Catalog of Fishes - edited by William N. Eschmeyer and published by the California Academy of Sciences, it covers more than 53,000 species and subspecies, over 10,000 genera and subgenera, and includes in excess of 16,000 bibliographic references. Entries for species, for example, consist of species/subspecies name, genus, author, date, publication, pages, figures, type locality, location of type specimen(s), current status (with references), family/subfamily, and important publication, taxonomic, or nomenclatural notes. Nearly all original descriptions have been examined, and much effort has gone into determining the location of type specimens.
   Access: http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/
   
   
3. FishBase - FishBase covers over 25,000 species of fish and has over 70,000 synonyms and 180,000 common names in over 200 languages. Over 35,000 pictures illustrate these fish. Information about them has been extracted from 20,000 references. The classification of higher taxa follows the version of Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes . Data includes family, order, class, environment, climate, importance, resilience, distribution, biology, ecology, diet, reproduction, and references. Developed at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and many other partners, and with support from the European Commission (EC). Access: http://www.fishbase.org/home.htm
   
   
4. Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS) -
   
   
5. FAO Fisheries -
   
   
6. GlobeFish - 
   
   
7. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) - being developed by a partnership of North American organizations and taxonomic specialists. It provides authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes with a focus on North America. Data includes scientific and common names, distribution information, and references.
   
   
8. ReefBase - "the world's premier online information system on coral reefs, and provides information services to coral reef professionals involved in management, research, monitoring, conservation and education."
   
   
9. Regulatory Fish Encyclopedia (RFE) - Fish and Marketed Product Form Images, Species Identification Tools, and Taxonomic Information.
   
   
10. Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates - series describes the life histories and environmental requirements of 126 coastal aquatic organisms along the coasts of the United States; the organisms are principally fish, of sport, commercial, or ecological importance. The profiles were designed to provide coastal managers, engineers, and biologists with a brief, comprehensive sketch of the biological characteristics and environmental requirements of the species and to describe how populations of the species may be expected to react to environmental changes caused by coastal development. Individual profiles have sections on taxonomy, life history, ecological role, environmental requirements, and economic importance, if applicable.

Return to top

II. Reviews and Important Journals in Fisheries Research

Bulletin of Marine Science Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences Copeia Environmental Biology of Fishes Estuaries Fish and Fisheries Fisheries Research Fisheries Science Fishery Bulletin* ICES Journal of Marine Science Ichthyological Research Journal of Aquatic Animal Health Journal of Fish Biology Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Journal of the North American Benthological Society Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science Marine Biology Marine Ecology Progress Series Marine Fisheries Review* NOAA Professional Paper NMFS series* NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS* series North American Journal of Aquaculture North American Journal of Fisheries Management Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Reviews in Fisheries Science Transactions of the American Fisheries Society

NOTE: (*) Each of these publications is published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA). For more information on each, please click on each title.

Return to top

III. Finding Scientic Articles
The following databases (i.e. indexes) will be helpful for finding scientific articles regarding fisheries research. Particularly useful databases to begin with are Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts, Oceanic Abstracts, and Zoological Record although each of the databases below will likely yield information on your research topics. When searching the databases try searching for your fish's scientific name in the title of articles. Many times, authors of scientific papers will include the fish's scientific name in the title of the paper and this help you find relevant articles easier.

For the most part, the above databases are all citation-based. They do NOT include the full-text of the articles . Also note that each of these is a stand alone database. This means that if you enter a search, they will only tell you what has been published on the term(s) that you entered. You will then need to search the library's catalog to see if the library subscribes to the journal referencing your article. By searching the library's catalog, you will be able to determine if the library has print and/or electronic access to the journal referencing your article. If the library does not subscribe to the journal in which your article was published you will need to use Interlibrary Loan to obtain the article. See the following section for more information on this service.

1. ABI/Inform Global - includes material on fishing statistics and industry.
   
   
2. Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) - via Randall Library's subscription to the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts suite of databases. ASFA is a premier reference database for citations and abstracts of the world's literature dealing with the science, technology and management of marine, freshwater and brackish water environments and organisms. This source combines three major files that cover the biological sciences and living resources; ocean technology, policy and non-living resources, and aquatic pollution and environmental quality. Two specialized files are also included, which are aquaculture and marine biotechnology. Please see the ASFA Fact Sheet for more information or the Guide to Using ASFA for more information on using this database.
   
   
3. Biological Abstracts   - both the electronic (1969-present) and print editions (1926-1996) are available through Randall Library. Biological Abstracts (BA) is the most comprehensive index for worldwide journal literature in the life sciences and is one of the most important index to biologists. Please see the BA Fact Sheet for more information or the Guide to Using Biological Abstracts for more information on using this database.
   
   
4. NOAA Central Library Catalog - An online catalog containing the holdings of NOAA libraries around the country. Collections consist of reports, special data files and datasets, documents, articles, and audiovisual resources related to ocean science and atmospheric sciences.
   
   
5. Oceanic Abstracts - Focuses exclusively on worldwide technical literature pertaining to the marine and brackish-water environment, and has long been recognized as a leading source of information on topics relating to oceans. Coverage includes marine biology and physical oceanography, fisheries, aquaculture, non-living resources, meteorology and geology, plus environmental, technological, and legislative topics. Oceanic Abstracts is totally comprehensive in its coverage of living and non-living resources, meteorology and geology, plus environmental, technological, and legislative topics. Documents indexed include journal articles, monographs, technical reports, theses, letters, meeting abstracts, papers and reports. Please see the Oceanic Abstracts Fact Sheet for more information on using this database.
   
   
6. PAIS International - indexes & abstracts journals & other series as well as books, government reports & conference proceedings on public affairs and policy from 1972+. Subjects include conservation, marine policy, coastal zone development, etc.
   
   
7. PubMed -  a free resource (1951-present) developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), PubMed is the most comprehensive biomedical research database. It provides access to 12 million citations and additional life science journals published in the US and 70 foreign countries. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources. Please see the PubMed Overview Sheet for more information or the Guide to Using PubMed for more information on using this database.
   
   
8. Sea Grant Database - maintained by the National Sea Grant Library, the database includes 36,000 bibliographic records to various Sea Grant publications, and in many cases, the full-text of the document is also available online through the database. Subjects include, including oceanography, marine education, aquaculture, fisheries, limnology, coastal zone management, marine recreation and law.
   
   
9. Zoological Record (ZooRecord) - the premier resource comprehensively indexing literature in zoology, ZooRecord indexes every aspect of zoology including biochemistry, behavior, ecology, evolution, genetics, etc. ZooRecord indexes over 4,500 international serials, and includes approximately 1,500 non-serial publications (i.e. professional journals, magazines, newsletters, monographs, books, reviews, and conference proceedings). ZooRecord is published by BIOSIS and the Zoological Society of London. Please see the Zoological Record Fact Sheet for more information or the Guide to Using Zoological Record for more information on using this database.
   
   
10. WorldCat - a combined catalog of thousands of libraries, including Randall Library. Search WorldCat if you want to search the largest universe of book and other cataloged items.

Return to top

IV. Interlibary Loan (ILLiad)
What if the Library doesn't own the journal in which your article was published? Use Randall Library's Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery service, and the library will order articles you need from another library. This is a FREE service for students, faculty, and staff at UNCW. You do not need to know which library owns the journal that you need. Simply login into your ILLiad account and provide us with the citation, and we'll obtain the article for you. It generally takes 3-4 days for the library to process your request and obtain the article, so don't wait until the last minute for materials that you need!

To access this service, please see Randall Library's homepage (http://library.uncw.edu) and the section to the left of the photograph of the library. Click on the following: Interlibrary Loan.

Return to top

V. Sources for Statistics

1. Coastal and Fisheries Statistics from NCDENR - from the North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources (NCDENR), the site includes statistics on fisheries, stock status, erosion rates, fishkills, and recreational fishing. Access: http://www.enr.state.nc.us/html/data.html
   
   
2. Fisheries of the United States -  includes statistics on U.S. fisheries from 1995-present.
   Access: http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/publications.html
   
   
3. FAO Fisheries Statistics - includes statistics on Global Production (1950 to 2004), Global Capture Production (1950 to 2004), Global Aquaculture Production (1950 to 2004), Fishery Commodities Global Production and Trade (1976 to 2001), and Global Fishing Fleet (1970 to 1998), along with many others. Access: http://www.fao.org/figis/servlet/static?dom=root&xml=tseries/index.xml
   
   
4. Landings and Statistics Portal - directory from NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) on national and international sources of fisheries statistics.
   Access: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsclibrary/land.html
   
   
5. North Carolina Commercial and Recreational Statistics -  statistics from the North Carolina Deparment of Marine Fisheries on commercial and recreational fishing.
   Access: http://www.ncdmf.net/statistics/index.html
   
   
6. OECD Agriculture and Fisheries Statistics -  statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
   Access: http://www.oecd.org/topicstatsportal/0,2647,en_2825_494504_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
   
   
7. SEFSC Fisheries Statistics -  statistics available from NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC). Access: http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/fisheriesstatistics.jsp
   
   
8. United States Fish Commission Annual Reports - available from the NOAA Library, the site provides access to the annual reports of the United States Fish Commission, also known as the United States Fish and Fisheries Commission, from 1871 to 1940 in PDF format.

Return to top

VI. Associations and Societies

1. American Elasmobranch Society
2. American Fisheries Society - founded in 1870, is the oldest and largest professional society representing fisheries scientists who work to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. 
3. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
4. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
5. Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture
6. Ecological Society of America
7. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
8. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
9. IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
10. National Marine Fisheries Service - NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) , founded in 1871 as the U.S. Commission on Fish and Fisheries, is the Nation's oldest Federal conservation agency.
11. NOAA Coastal Services Center
12. North American Benthological Society
13. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries
14. North Carolina Fisheries Association
15. Pew Oceans Commision
16. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
17. The World Aquaculture Society
18. WorldFish Center (formerly ICLARM)

Return to top

 
Last Update: 20 July, 2006 15:56