Finding Fisheries Information on the Internet

Introduction

The Internet contains both both popular and scholarly information of interest in fisheries, including information from government agencies, universities, organizations and societies. Content format may be textual, numeric, graphic, mulitmedia or software.

Based on accessibility Internet content can be separated into the surface web or visible web and the deep web or invisible web. Some estimates place the size of the surface web at 100 billion pages and the deep web at more than 900 billion pages, many times larger than the surface web.

Deep web pages are excluded from general search engines because of 1) licensing restrictions that place content behind firewalls or 2) content contained in databases that generate a dynamic web page based on a specific information query. Many of the Library's databases and catalogs are part of the deep web. Content from some of the largest deep web sites is freely available.

Approaches to Searching the Internet

• Search surface web pages using general Internet search tools, e.g., Google.
• Use Library databases and catalogs to search parts of the deep web.
• Identify other subject specific databases that contain deep web content.
• Search general Internet search tools, e.g., Google, using a combination of a subject keyword(s) and the keyword "database", e.g.," shark attacks database".
• Use databases listed in the fisheries subject directories listed below or in the fisheries reference resources research guide.
• Use general Internet subject directories/portals/gateways. Some recommended general directories include:
  • Complete Planet - lists over 70,000+ searchable databases and specialty search engines
  • Librarian's Internet Index
  • Infomine
  • Intute
• Use higher-end databases that search the content of multiple deep web databases.
  • Google Scholar
  • Scirus
  • Science.gov (US Department of Energy and US Geological Survey) Searches over 35 federal databases
  • WorldWideScience.org: the global science gateway (US Department of Energy) Searches over 50 science databases from over 50 countries

Fisheries Subject Directories/Portals/Gateways

The following individuals, organizations, and universities maintain directories, portals, and gateways of interest to fisheries biologists and managers:

• General
  • FINS: Fish Information Service (Mark Rosenstein) Focus is on links of interest to the aquarium hobbyist.
  • Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (National Biological Information Infrastructure)
  • Fishing for Information: A Hypertext Guide to Internet Resources in Aquatic Science (University of Stirling Institute of Aquaculture) Subdivisions include aquaculture, fisheries, aquaria and fish diseases; marine science; freshwater biology and ecology; environment, waste treatment and toxicology; and water resources, climate and earth science.
  • Hooking into Fish Facts: Internet Resources in Marine Fisheries (Laurel Duda, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).
  • WindandSea: The Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Internet Locator (NOAA Central Library) Includes section on fish.
• California and the Pacific Northwest
  • CalFish Links (California Department of Fish and Game)
  • California Aquaculture (Fred Conte)
  • California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) (California Resource Agency)
  • California Explores the Ocean (UC San Diego and San Diego Historical Society)
  • Columbia Basin Research Related Sites (University of Washington School of Fisheries)
• Species
  • Elasmoworld
  • Ephemeroptera Galactica: The Ephemeropterists' Home Page
  • Internet Resources: Salmon & Watersheds (Oregon Sea Grant)