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Database and Atlas of Freshwater Fishes (DAFF)

Freshwater fishes (including anadromous* species) are the only vertebrate group for which, hitherto, there has not been an up-to-date collated source of information on the distribution of species in the UK. Several species of freshwater fishes occurring in the UK are listed for protection under national or international legislation / conventions. Information on the distribution of these species as well as more common species is therefore of great interest to many different groups of people such as conservationists, naturalists and anglers. The DAFF project has produced a collated information source on the distribution of all freshwater and estuarine fish species for Britain.

As this project covered a large geographical area, BRC has collated existing sets of data rather than individual records. The Environment Agency has made available all survey data for inclusion and data have been acquired from a variety of other sources. For rare or alien species, however, individual records have also be included as long as they met minimum data criteria.
 
 In order for records to be included in the DAFF database, there was a certain minimum amount of data required: species name, grid reference, locality (water body name and / or location name), and date (at least year) are the minimum requirements and as records must be validated rather than anecdotal, the name and address of the person who supplied the information and confirmed the identity of the species.

* Anadromous species: species which ascend rivers from the sea to spawn

For further information or to contribute data please contact Helen Roy

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
DATA FIELDS
DATA CONTRIBUTORS
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