VFF Release 1.0.0

The Voices from the Fisheries Database is a central repository for consolidating, archiving, and disseminating oral history interviews related to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing in the United States and its territories. Oral history interviews are a powerful way to document the human experience with our marine, coastal, and Great Lakes environments and our living marine resources. Each story archived here provides a unique example of this connection collected from fishermen, their spouses, processing workers, shoreside business workers and operators, recreational and subsistence fishermen, scientists, marine resources managers, and others --all among NOAA's fishery stakeholders.

Separately, each history provides an in depth view into the professional and personal lives of individual participants. Together, they have the power to illuminate common themes, issues and concerns across diverse fishing communities over time. The Voices from the Fisheries Database is a powerful resource available to the public to inform, educate, and provide primary information for researchers interested in our local, human experience with the surrounding marine environment.

Originally the creation of the Local Fisheries Knowledge Database has two major phases. The first phase involved design, creation, and implementation of the database over a year and a half period (winter 2003 ? summer 2004). The database was ready for implementation by spring 2004, when students were ready to begin using the database. During the entire pilot project, only students in the two participating high schools in Maine were able to input data into the database.

The purpose of the Local Fisheries Knowledge (LFK) Database (LFKD) is to create a searchable database for traditional knowledge of fish, fish habitat, and other aspects of commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries. The data that resides in the LFKD will be a collection of information in interview format conducted by students and professional researchers with fishermen and others involved in fishing activities. LFKD will be used as an electronic tool for users to enter data and retrieve that data through web-based forms. LFKD will support a variety of users including: NOAA Fisheries, non-NOAA scientists and managers, educators, students, and the general public.

Local and traditional ecological knowledge possessed by fishermen and women can enhance fisheries science and management. Fishermen and women develop and refine fishing strategies based on their observations and experience. Such knowledge can be passed down throughout generations or developed throughout a single lifetime. Fishermens? knowledge about fishing, species, habitats, and other knowledge about the marine environment, as well as their knowledge about the culturally patterned lifeways of fishing families and fishing communities can enhance fisheries science and ultimately management decisions. Oral history interviews document local experience at the individual and community levels. They provide data that can be systematically searched and analyzed for use in social impact assessment, fisheries impact assessments, and in environmental impact assessments required under NEPA.

In 2003 funding was provided by the NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Science and Technology for the Local Fisheries Knowledge Pilot Project. This project focused on training high school students to conduct oral history interviews with local fishermen and others in marine fishing-related industries to explore the connection between fisheries, the marine environment, and their communities. As part of the LFK Pilot Project, a database was created to provide a publicly accessible archive for these and other marine related oral history interviews. The LFK Pilot Project is now evolving into a 'one stop shop' for those interested in the human connection with our marine and aquatic environments, and our living marine resources.

The second phase of this project will support the operational phase of the Local Fisheries Knowledge Project, which took place between fall 2007 and summer of 2008. This second phase involves the design, creation (winter 2007 ? 2008), and implementation (spring 2008 ? summer 2008) of the second database version. The objective is to develop a web application system to store, catalogue, classify, and retrieve interviews of local fisheries knowledge in support of HQ/ST services provided to fishery science and management, education, and the general public.

The second phase of this project began in the spring of 2008. Experience with the first Phase database has lead us to redevelop the original database using alternate, and more current technologies. New components will be included including video and audio files, increased search capabilities, and other functions that were not created during the pilot year due to time limitations. During the second phase, professional researchers are being added to the the database user list to store their local fisheries knowledge interviews and fisheries oral historical data.

Throughout the existence of LFKD, NOAA Fisheries ST6 will maintain the system. Both students and professional researchers will add new data to the database on an ongoing basis. At all times, the information stored in the database will be accessible to the public for interview retrieval.

The application shall be developed using the Oracle10g database and tools such as Java Server Pages (JSP) and HTML for the data entry screens . Various reports will be created using Oracle Reports with outputs in the PDF format. Also, a search function application has been developed in Oracle's Application Express to allow the public to search, view, and download interview information. These applications shall be deployed over the Internet and users will access the application via a standard web browser.