Do you know Fishbase? If you - like me - are working in fish biology and anything relating to fish or if you are a serious fish hobbyist it is very likely that you came across Fishbase a number of times. It is a huge resource for fish names and life history information. Endless work has been put into this database but it has never been easy to find the money needed to run it especially to pay for the staff in Manila. I've visited them a couple of years ago and it is just incredible how much they've accomplished on a shoestring budget through their hard and dedicated work. The more concerned I became when I was told about this message from their website:
Dear FishBase users, We have just been informed that a major payment to support the FishBase encoders in 2018 will not be made. It comes at a time when use of FishBase produced a major scientific breakthrough with far-reaching practical implications. This leaves us with a funding gap of 200,000 US$ until end of 2018. We will now have to ask our expert staff [in the Philippines] to go on unpaid leave until we receive additional funding. This is an urgent call for your help: If FishBase is useful to you, please donate to bring us back on track.
Please spread the word and hopefully this call will reach somebody with big pockets who wants to help keeping this immensely valuable resource alive.
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