Partner overview

FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc. (FIN)

The FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc. (FIN) -- a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization -- is engaged in the development and management of global databases on aquatic organisms, including their distribution and ecology.

FIN was established in the Philippines in September 2003 with the support of FishBase Consortium, a network of nine international Institutes and organizations that provides long-term support for FishBase (www.fishbase.org), a global information system dedicated to enhance understanding, conservation and management of fish species worldwide. Members of the FishBase Consortium are: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, Rome, Italy); The WorldFish Center (Penang, Malaysia); Institute of Marine Research (Kiel, Germany); Swedish Museum of Natural History (Stockholm, Sweden); Africa Museum (Tervuren, Belgium), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France); Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada); Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki, Greece); and Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences (Qiangdao, China).

FIN currently provides technical support to the growth of FishBase as a public domain information system. It concurrently supports SeaLifeBase (www.sealifebase.org), an online information system providing access to standardized data on maximum size distribution, depth range and ecology for non-fish marine organisms.  

Nicolas Bailly

Nicolas Bailly (PhD, m) is acting as the FIN Scientific Director. He has participated in the following projects under the EC-FP5, FP6 and FP7, all related to biodiversity databasing: ERMS, ENHSIN, Fauna Europaea, BioCase, ENBI, D4Science, Higharcs. He organized one of the GBIF Governing Board meetings. He participated to the creation of the FishBase Consortium of which he was the head for one year. He participated in many initiatives on biodiversity information systems at the French national level when he worked with the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris.

Armi Torres

Armi Torres (MS, f) is a Senior Research Assistant for FishBase working mainly on freshwater fishes and their taxonomy, distribution as well as associated biological information. She handles the IUCN Red List in FishBase and conservation issues at the national and global levels. She also works on fish oxygen consumption. She was previously in-charge of reproduction related information in FishBase. She was mainly responsible for compiling information on fishes of the Mekong River and  freshwater fishes of central and south America as contribution of FishBase for the CLOFFSCA (Checklist of Freshwater Fishes of Central and South America).  She was actively involved in organizing trainings on freshwater fish identification and conservation in collaboration with national and international partners.

Kathleen Kesner-Reyes

Kathleen Kesner-Reyes (f) is a Senior Research Assistant for FishBase working on data requirements and verification of AquaMaps, a predictive mapping component of FishBase that matches species tolerances with environmental conditions in a given geographc area to determine probability of species occurence in the area. Also worked on the analysis of FishBase web usage and FishBase user needs survey. Previously worked on the development of the National Aquatic Ecosystems Information System (NAEIS), a generic database that links biological-, ecological-, socioeconomic information, project activity information and other site-related information to information and tools in FishBase. The objective was to build a comprehensive site-specific information system useful for fisheries-related research, management and policymaking.

Susan Luna

Susan Luna (BSc, f) is responsible of the data on reproduction of fishes. She will assist for the encoding of all biological and ecological data.

Christine Marie Casal

Christine Marie Casal (PhD, f) is a Research Analyst for FishBase handling data on genetics, fish invasions and abundance. She is mainly responsible for compiling information on these topics and developing tools for predicting species invasions utilizing species tolerances and biological characteristics. She is involved with global and national initiatives on invasive species. She is a biologist with a genetics and environmental science background.

Lealde Pacres-Urriquia

Lealde Pacres-Urriquia (f) is a Research Assistant for SeaLifeBase handling Porifera, common names and algae.