Fishes of Georgia

Fishes of Georgia is a first-of-its-kind, iOS application to help identify and educate people on the variety of fish found in Georgia’s waterways. It is informative enough to benefit avid fishermen and educators alike and also accessible enough to satisfy casual outdoorsmen. Its primary purpose is to identify fish in two ways – either by searching its common or scientific name or by searching through location using the hydrologic unit code, HUC8, map and water type (i.e., marine water). By creating and developing the mobile app, the Fishes of Georgia team is addressing the problem of misidentification of fish in the state of Georgia. That is how the need for the application arose in the first place. The proposed solution for the problem was to create a native iOS app able to identify various fish species found in Georgia with the data that is stored in the Fishes of Georgia/Georgia Museum of Natural History centralized database.

The University of Georgia has been a center of research in natural history related to the state, the region, and the world. The Georgia Museum of Natural History, located in the University of Georgia in Athens, conducts basic research in archaeology, zoology, botany, geology, among other concentrations. The applied research conducted in the Georgia Museum of Natural History is essential in the management of Georgia’s cultural and natural heritage to ensure it will survive for future generations. The need for the app arose from an overwhelming amount of misidentification of fish in Georgia. After discussing their need with students in the New Media Institute, the Georgia Museum of Natural History the students concluded that the solution would be to create an iOS application created in xCode with the compiled programming language, Swift, which was developed by Apple Inc. and the open-source community in 2014. The app can be downloaded from the App Store onto any iOS device. After downloading, it can be accessible offline – meaning it can be used in remote fishing sites without an internet connection.

Fishes of Georgia offers an all-in-one fish-finding and identifying mobile application for the state of Georgia – the first of its kind. The app focuses solely on fish that can be found in Georgia. It is also comprehensive enough to satisfy experienced fishermen and accessible enough to reach casual outdoorsmen. The benefit of this app is having a centralized database of resources to enhance the outdoor experience of potential users. Take your fishing experience to the next level with Fishes of Georgia!