NYAMBE Terry Simioti, Zambia
Support via: 2005 ext call
Abstract (taken from original project proposal)
The capacity building required can be divided into two categories:
Collection and Management of fish specimens
There is need for me to learn more on methodologies used in the collection of fish specimens. I have been in a few expeditions but most of the fishing has been done with help of local fishermen using mostly traditional methods and hook and line method of fishing. I am mainly interested in the using of seine nets for fishing. I have not used the nets many times and the museum does not have them currently.
Since I am a museum professional, I would like to learn more about the preservation and management of museum specimens. As a museum, we have scarcity of storage equipment and the course will definitely offer me the opportunity to learn the way fish specimens are preserved.
Research and storage equipment is another major problem we face in the natural history department. In the Ichthyology section in particular, there is lack of collecting equipment and storage jars for fish mostly more that 20cm long.
Fish Taxonomy and Systematics
In order to preserve fish specimens for posterity or research, there is need to have specimens properly named and classified. Although I am an assistant keeper of Ichthyology, I have not undergone any formal training in taxonomy and my knowledge is largely by reading books and from interacting with experts. It is therefore imperative that I learn fish taxonomy and systematics if I have to make a major contribution to fisheries science.
There is also a great need for taxonomy and systematics literature that is lacking in our institution. We have a library and qualified librarian staff who could be the custodians of the literature on behalf of museum natural history staff.
Training location: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels.
Gained personal capacity: The training I received at RBINS was greatly beneficial in several ways. Firstly, we learnt the art of taxonomy from experts from the institute. We further learnt how to identify and classify fresh water fish collections. This training has greatly improved my capacity in my day to day work at the museum. It is a pity that we have been unable to carry out the intended project due to lack of resources. However, the training gave me capacity to be able to identify and classify fresh water fish collections I found within our museum. There is no institution in my country that teaches taxonomy and hence the training I got from GTI was greatly beneficial. Whilst at RBINS, I also learnt how fish specimens were being curated and documented. Peter and I learnt a lot from this too. During our training, we also had the opportunity to visit Royal Museum of Central Africa (RMCA). This museum has a very huge collection of fresh water fish from central Africa. We learnt the processes of curation and documentation of the specimens. We also learnt of the fishbase website they manage. Today, I use the website to consult on fish related issues.
