Fisheries managers and researchers working on local, state, and regional projects routinely gather large quantities of fisheries data. Data collected as part of these projects are often made available to the public via specialized web interfaces specific to the project. This approach serves the immediate need to make the data publically available; however, the visibility and thus long term viability of these datasets can be improved by taking a longer term and larger scale view. In 2008, the USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure embarked on a pilot project, the National Fisheries Data Infrastructure (NFDI), which was subsequently adopted by the Science and Data Committee for use in the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP) data system. The goal of the NFDI is to create a common query framework to extract, at a minimum, fish presence information from several regional fisheries information systems and make it publically accessible via a single web interface. The overarching theory of the NFDI is that the aggregation of disparate fisheries datasets, each created with their own specific purpose, generates an entirely new product whose value exceeds that of the sum of its parts and adds value to each of the components. Additionally, providing a stable and funded alternate interface for querying these datasets adds to their visibility and usefulness in performing studies national in scope, such as the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP). The NFHAP’s science and data strategy seeks to assess and classify the nation’s fish habitats and identify causative factors for declining fish populations in aquatic systems. Data from the NFDI will fulfill a critical need of the NFHAP project in providing a large quantity of fish presence information across much of the United States for use in the NFHAP’s landscape-driven approach. Component Databases:To date, five partners generously provided their fisheries datasets for this project. The five datasets are:The Multistate Aquatic Resources Information System (MARIS):The Multistate Aquatic Resources Information System (MARIS) is an eleven state cooperative pilot project to make accessible, via a common, internet-based application, selected fish population survey data from each of the cooperating states. MARIS states include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. MARIS recently underwent a major overhaul which included adding data from additional states, redesigning the data delivery process, and adding the ability for the user to create an interactive map of query result. The MARIS website is: http://www.marisdata.orgThe Sturgeon Information Infrastructure created by Michigan State University:In 2004, the Sturgeon Information Infrastructure system, is only available online through the NFDI. USGS provided support for the Michigan State University (MSU) to begin work on creating a template model for tracking status and trends of a species across its range. The pilot species chosen as a target for modeling was the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Data from the prototype Sturgeon Information Infrastructure system, is only available online through the NFDI..The American Fisheries Society's Western Native Fisheries Database:The American Fisheries Society's Western Native Fishes Database (AFS WNF)project has collected species data that now provides a definitive summary of the current status of inland native fishes within the states a part of the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society.. The database includes an evaluation of current fish distribution and status relative to prior assessments; the identification of key remaining habitat areas for each species; and identification of key issues of concern for each species. The AFS WNF project plans to release its own will soon be launching its own online mapping application as a resource to the natural resource professionals of the Western states.The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture:The Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture (EBTJV) is the nation's first pilot project under the National Fish Habitat Initiative, which directs locally-driven efforts that build private and public partnerships to improve fish habitat. The EBTJV assessment team evaluated and assigned a status to 11,400 subwatersheds in 17 states in the Appalachian region. Datasets and an online mapping application for the EBTJV project are available at http://www.easternbrooktrout.org. The USFWS Fisheries Information System (FIS):The Fisheries Information System (FIS) is a national fisheries database maintained by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The FIS tracks the status and trends of fish populations nationwide. NFDI project staff and USFWS staff cooperated to develop a SQL query to extract fisheries population information by HUC8 from the FIS. The SQL query can be easily executed upon request to provide future updates to NFDI.The NFDI does not seek to duplicate functionality already present within the component databases; rather, a new query methodology was developed which extracts fish presence information at the HUC8 level source datasets. This aggregated data is extracted into new tables within the NFDI database. Each record within the new database tables contains a reference to the original database, such that the user can easily ascertain the record source and perform further research if needed.
