CMFRI develops mobile app to identify commercial reef

: Kochi-based Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute today said it has developed a mobile app meant for identifying the commercial reef and reef associated fishes.
Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam will release the mobile app named Fish Finder Version 1 on Saturday in connection with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, CMFRI said in a release here.
"The app is a very user friendly. This App can be easily loaded on all smart phones.It has an easy search portal with common names and hence is very useful for both public as well as researchers and students in easily identifying the fishes. 369 fishes in 66 families can be easily identified using this app", said Dr Rekha J Nair, Principal Scientist of Demersal Fisheries Division of CMFRI, who developed the app.

Nair said though the app was not based on taxonomic characters, it could be used for scientific purposes as it has been placed on a classification plane.
"The app is meant to easily identify fish, classify fish scientifically using their common names. Researchers can correctly identify species as far as possible on the field.
"Snorkelers and those interested in marine life will be benefited to identify fish in live form. Traders in the field as well as exporters also can identify fish easily,"she said.
The app was developed by Nair with help from Manu V K.
It can be downloaded fromCMFRI website and does not require internet connectivity for its application and hence can be used in all remote corners of the country were net connectivity is not available, the release said.