Walter Fischer (biologist)

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Walter Fischer on research ship, approx. 1955

Walter Fischer Kuntz (born November 18, 1929 in La Unión , Chile ) is a German-Chilean biologist whose fish identification books are still used in many countries and regions for fishing , biological and ecological work.

Life

Walter Fischer with plankton sample in Chile, approx. 1965
Walter Fischer in front of the FAO building, 1990

Walter Fischer Kuntz is, after his two years older brother Hans, the younger son of the businessman Hans Werner Fischer and the housewife Hedwig Kuntz, who died shortly after his birth. Walter Fischer first studied veterinary medicine in Chile, then marine biology in Germany. In 1956 he married the biology doctoral student Marlies Sofie Emilie Gerhardt (1928–2019) and moved back to Chile with her in the same year. The two had three children: Johanne (1957), Sigrid (1959) and Wolfgang (Lobito, 1960). In 1969 Walter Fischer moved with his family to Rome for professional reasons. In the mid-1990s, the couple retired in Hofgeismar , Germany.

Create

Fischer was initially a veterinarian in Chile, but began studying marine biology at the University of Hamburg in 1954 with the help of a scholarship , where he received his doctorate in 1962 with a dissertation on the ecology of fish in the estuary of the Bío Bío river near Concepción , Chile. Between 1956 and 1969 he worked as a scientist and lecturer at the Universidad de Valparaíso and its marine biology research station in Montemar (here from 1962 to 1964 as director). After working in various countries (USSR, India and Sierra Leone ) on behalf of UNESCO and the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN ), he accepted a position as a fisheries expert at the FAO in Rome , where he worked up to when he retired in 1994 and reached the rank of Senior Fishery Resources Officer (P5).

Walter Fischer has made a name for himself above all as the founder of the FAO's fish identification program , the Species Identification and Data Program (SIDP; today: FAO FishFinder ). He introduced this in 1972 to improve the quality of national, regional and therefore global FAO fisheries statistics and to promote fisheries research and data collection in general. The correct determination of species is of great importance for the fisheries statistics, which in turn is essential for sustainable management of fish stocks. In the course of his work, it became clear to Walter Fischer that the identification of fish species was inadequate in many regions, which considerably reduced the value of the global fisheries statistics published by the FAO. In developing countries in particular , there was a lack of (accessible) knowledge about the locally occurring species and the basic taxonomic knowledge of the persons responsible for collecting data on fishing. There was also great confusion due to the different local names for species used for fishing, whereby on the one hand the same name can be used for completely different species, on the other hand the same species can already be known in neighboring areas under a different name. Walter Fischer therefore decided to develop identification materials that would help the local authorities and fishermen concerned to overcome these problems. His conviction that the correct identification of fish species is of fundamental importance for sustainable fishing was so great that, due to the initial resistance of his superiors, he wrote the first identification books largely in his spare time at home. Important components of the species guides produced by the program are:

  • the scientific drawings of the organisms made by professional draftsmen under the guidance of taxonomists
  • the most complete possible recording of the local, colloquial names of the organisms to facilitate the correct identification of species by laypersons (e.g. state fisheries statisticians)
  • the definition of internationally binding English, French and Spanish species names for the global fisheries statistics of the FAO
  • the identification keys that have been worked out with great effort and that have to be newly created for each region or species group
  • the distribution maps made by experts based on specimens of a species sighted

The species guides produced by FishFinder (SIDP) still form the basis for the species identification of fish catches in many countries and regions and the published drawings, keys and data support and enable the successful existence of important biological and taxonomic internet platforms such as FishBase , WoRMS , IUCN Red List . In particular, the electronic database SPECIESDAB, which Walter Fischer and his team started in 1986, was very important for this and donated most of its published data to FishBase. To this day, FAO FishFinder (SIDP) is an important data source for FishBase, where the information generated by the FAO program, possibly supplemented by other publications, is made available to a broad public online.

Walter Fischer worked as producer, editor and co-author of the FAO fish guides and catalogs with numerous renowned taxonomists from all over the world and until his retirement in 1994 published over 50 works (many of them not named as editor in the title). These are mainly the following series (see FAO FishFinder publications):

  • Regional species guide, in which all commercially used marine organisms in a region are described and their identification is made possible by identification keys. To date there are regional guides for 9 major oceanic regions.
  • National species guides designed for the identification of fish species of a given country, especially for developing countries. To date, around 25 guides have been implemented here, especially for African and Asian countries.
  • Species catalogs, ie global guides that focus on specific groups of organisms, mostly orders. Around 25 catalogs have been published so far, most of them under the direction of Walter Fischer.
  • Species Identification Cards, Pocket Guide and On-Board Guide, recently developed products with an emphasis on compactness and robustness for identifying fish in the field, e.g. B. at landing sites and on board fishing vessels.
Caranx fischeri postage stamp from Ascension

In 2007 a West African edible fish, Caranx fischeri , was named after Walter Fischer for its services to the worldwide determination of fish . This honor was announced by William Smith-Vaniz, who, together with Kent Carpenter, had just described the fish for the first time, at a ceremony in the FAO.

Publications (selection)

  • Fischer, W., F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K. Carpenter y VH Niem, 1995. Guía FAO para la identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Pacífico centro-oriental. Rome, FAO.
    • Plantas e invertebrados. Vol. I: 1-646 p.
    • Vertebrados - Part 1. Vol. II: 647-1200 p.
    • Vertebrados - Part 2. Vol. III: 1201-1813 p.
  • Coppola, SR, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, N. Scialabba and KE Carpenter. 1994. SPECIESDAB: Global species database for fishery purposes . User's Manual. FAO Computerized Information Series (Fisheries) No. 9. FAO, Rome. 103 p
  • Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, AJ Lemus, R. Márquez, JM Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriquez. 1992/1993. FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the commercial marine and brackish-water resources of the northern coast of South America. Rome, FAO. 513 p. ( English and Spanish )
  • Fischer, W., I. Sousa, C. Silva, A. De Freitas, JM Poutiers, W. Schneider, TC Borges, JP Féral e A. Massinga. 1990. FAO Fichas de identificaçío de espécies para actividades de pesca. Guía de campo das espécies comerciais marinhas e de águas salobras de Moçambique . Roma, FAO. 1990.424 p.
  • Bellemans M .; A. Sagna; W. Fischer; N. Scialabba. 1988. Fiches FAO d'identification des espéces pour les besoins de la péche. Guide des ressources halieutiques du Sénégal et de la Gambie (espéces marines et d'eaux saumâtres). Rome, FAO 1988. 227 p.
  • Fischer, W., M.-L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (rédacteurs). 1987. Fiches FAO d'identification desespèces pour les besoins de la péche. (Revision 1). Méditerranée et mer Noire. Zone de péche 37.
    • Volume I. Végétaux et Invertébrés. Rome, FAO, Vol.2: 1-760 p.
    • Volume II . Vertébrés. Rome, FAO, Vol. 2: 761-1530 p.
  • Fischer, W. and JC Hureau (eds). 1985. FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Southern Ocean: Fishing Areas 48, 58 and 88 (CCAMLR Convention Area). Published in English, French and Spanish.
    • Vol. 1 [En] Seaweeds, Euphasiids, King crabs and Stone Crabs, Bivalves, Gastropods, Cephalopods, Hagfishes, Lampreys, Sharks and Batoid Fishes: 1-232 p.
    • Vol. 2 [En] Bony Fishes, Marine Mammals, Index of Scientific and Vernacular Family and Species Names. 233-470 p.
  • Fischer W. & Bianchi G. (eds). 1984. FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51). Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vols. 1-6 : pag. Var.
  • Fischer, W., Bianchi G. & WB Scott (eds). 1981. FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Eastern Central Atlantic; fishing area 34, 47 (in part). FAO, Rome. Vol 1, Vol.2 , Vol.3 , Vol.4 , Vol.5 , Vol.6 , Index .
  • Fischer, W. 1976. The FAO species identification sheets program: a common task for ichthyologists and fishery workers. Rev. Trav. Pêches Marit. 40 (3/4): 568-569
  • Fischer, W. & PJP Whitehead (Eds.) (1974) Rome, FAO, pag.var. FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Eastern Indian Ocean (fishing area 57) and Western Central Pacific (fishing area 71). Volumes 1 to 4.
  • Fischer Kuntz, Walter. 1966. La oceanología: sus tareas y perspectivas. Santiago: Editorial Universitaria. 66 pages.
  • Fischer, W. 1963. The fish of the brackish water area Lenga near Concepción (Chile). Inaugural dissertation of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Hamburg 1962. Int. Revue.ges.Hydrobiol. 48.3: 419-511.

Web links

Commons : Walter Fischer  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fischer Kuntz, Walter: Contribuciones al estudio de la pigmentación en los vertebrados. In: Tesis (médico veterinario). Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Ciencias Pecuarias y Medicina Veterinaria, 1953, accessed December 31, 2019 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ Walter Fischer: The fish of the brackish water area Lenga near Concepción (Chile) . In: International review of the entire hydrobiology and hydrography . tape 48 , no. 3 , 1963, DNB  481915796 , p. 419-511 .
  3. ↑ Maria Etcheverry: Los indices de la Revista de Biología Marina (Contents of "Revista de Biología Marina"). (PDF) In: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 63: 110-112. 1990, accessed December 31, 2019 (Spanish).
  4. ^ Walter Fischer: The FAO species identification sheets program: a common task for ichthyologists and fishery workers. In: Rev. Trav. Pêches Marit. tape 40 , no. 3/4 , 1976, p. 568-569 .
  5. ↑ FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture ASFIS List of Species for Fishery Statistics Purposes, Overview. Retrieved December 28, 2019 .
  6. ^ FAO: Aquatic Species Distribution Maps. Retrieved December 28, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Coppola, SR, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, N. Scialabba and KE Carpenter. 1994. SPECIESDAB: Global species database for fishery purposes. User's Manual. FAO Computerized Information Series (Fisheries) No. 9. FAO, Rome. 103 p.
  8. ^ The Making of FishBase. Accessed December 30, 2019
  9. ↑ FAO Fish Finder: Publications. Retrieved December 28, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Caranx fisheri , Longfin crevalle jack at Fishbase, accessed December 30, 2019
  11. ↑ Smith-Vaniz, WF; KE Carpenter: "Review of the crevalle jacks, Caranx hippos complex (Teleostei: Carangidae), with a description of a new species from West Africa". In: Fisheries Bulletin 105 (4): 207-233. 2007, accessed December 28, 2019 .
  12. ^ Interim Guinea Current Commission (IGCC): IGCC Newsletter. June 2007, accessed December 28, 2019 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ cf. Longfin crevalle jack on Wikipedia
personal data
SURNAME Fischer, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fischer Kuntz, Walter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Chilean biologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH La Unión , Chile