Collecting Fishes for Science An African View

Ethics Common sense – health and safety Collections and ‘Bioprospecting’ Biodiversity Informatics – “knowledge repatriation” Checklist

Ethics  Have you packed your “code of conduct”?  All life is precious  (In Africa) Fishes are a valuable renewable natural resource – “food”  Respect African culture – it is different, and usually more apt for the circumstance!

Fish and Fishing are an integral part of African culture

Common sense Natural waters in Africa are dangerous  diseases – the germs & bugs are nasty!  crocodiles are sneaky  hippos bite  anti-personnel mines hurt  dangerous trash is everywhere  spines, razor edged plants, etc

Work with local partners Permits generally are necessary Local officials are control freaks – prepare well in advance Local permission (courtesy) is essential – respect local customs and protocols Plan to share equitably Ensure knowledge repatriation Ensure long-term repository – museums focus change with time (universities are not long-term repositories) Collections

Bioprospecting  Be Careful of this tag – developing nations are alert and reacting  Check the legal requirements  have clear (written) understanding with partners  Permits to cover “tissues” – be open  ALWAYS voucher properly  ALWAYS lodge vouchers in open access collections

Biodiversity Informatics Africa is biodiversity ‘rich’ but ‘knowledge poor/deprived’ Africa’s scientific biodiversity resources are scattered in external institutions How do we ensure these resources are (i) available to African researchers/science, and (ii) address historical disadvantages? Modern information technologies and information systems hold the key! I believe fair partnerships and effort from all parties is necessary

B iodiversity informatics is to: collect, capture, store, analyse, synthesise, report, use and share Biodiversity information so as to exploit the natural relationships in the information.

Two Data Streams Specimens Species CollectionsResearch

Specimen Stream Museum specimens biodiversity database linked to GIS (e.g. Specify) Synthesis (e.g. Ecological Niche Modelling) Application (e.g. conservation planning) GBIF Global Change

African Nodes of GBIF Advances in African Biodiversity Informatics

Created by MRAC African Zoology Department To facilitate access to collections (in line with Belgium signatory to CBD Promote organise and disseminate information on African biodiversity Facilitate access to biodiversity data banks Disseminate information on the collections through internet and “an interface” (portal) Help African countries in the inventory and sustainable management of their biodiversity, in particular by sponsoring study visits of African scientists MRAC African Biodiversity Information Centre

All Catfish Species Inventory Species Stream

Tree of Life web project Species Stream

Faunafri Species Stream

Photo: Ernst Swartz Species Stream Encyclopedia of Life

Online Literature

The IUCN Pan African Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Molluscs Crabs Odonata Aquatic Plants East Africa Madagascar West Africa Central Africa North Africa North East Africa Freshwater Fishes Southern Africa

Barcode of Life

New African RWG partners Existing African RWG African FISH-BOL Participating Countries FISH-BOL in Africa SA iBOL Regional Working Group members from 16 countries 679 of 8720 species already barcoded (8%) Support from CBOL, CCDB (& their sponsors), IUCN, SARCF (NRF), WIO project & CoML

So, lets get going!