We’re excited to announce the initial, public facing implementation of the ARN labelling project. It’s at a very early stage, but it is the right time now to share my plans and let you see “where we’re at”. Others, such as leading fishfood manufacturers and LFS chains have improved POS fish labels dramatically over the past few years. Below are some good examples. However there is a limit to what information can be displayed and indeed such systems are only available for some users. What about the smaller independent? What about all countries? What about a central, verified, data source? That has had me thinking about improving the situation for some time now.
Some good examples of best practice:
- Maidenhead aquatics labelling system
- Tetra's labelling system
Since humans started talking to each other about fish, we have often been unable to accurately describe them to another human initially unfamiliar with the fish in question. Even the very best scientific description of a species can only comment on the sizes of the sample collected. Commonly, whether it’s a biblical account of some marine leviathan, a fisherman describing that mammoth Pike he nearly landed or indeed fishkeepers and fishes they keep or see for sale, some inaccuracy exists. Indeed, the topic of what size any particular fish can grow to is almost a website in its own right. You don’t solve things like that overnight, but you can chip away at them.
Some of the best moments I have in fish stores are that thrill of seeing something you've not seen before. Sadly that doesn't happen as often as before (I've seen a lot of fish and I've seen even more photos of them) but it still does happen quite often. Isn’t it amazing after decades of looking at fish there are still new ones to see? I am what some might regard as an expert, what about those just beginning that exciting journey? They see a new fish, then what? The advice on that fish has traditionally depended on the knowledge of the staff in the shop. To some, this will be augmented by reading and research of reference books and, more increasingly, by internet discussions. I’ve long thought there is an improvement in the quick and easy research of that fish and its “vital statistics” to be made via the internet and a mobile device.
Of course, it’s relatively simple to google “neon tetra” or even “Corydoras paleatus”, but you have to sift through a variable results set and all the white noise and opinion that the wonders of the web brings. Wouldn't it be nice if fish for sale had a name, price, max. size, picture and a quick way to further research that fish on the web? I think it would. That, therefore, is why I’ve been working on this labelling thing.
Who can use it?
Everyone. The same facility will be available on planetcatfish.com and soon aquaticrepublic.com also. At the current time only some labels have images but I am hoping to improve it. The idea basically is select species you want, print and use in store. Any shoppers with smartphones will be able to then scan the code and access all the data for that species.
I've contributed images to Planet and I DO or DON'T want them used for this!
Under our Ts&Cs, actually you've already agreed that you allow us to use your image if it's been uploaded to the site. However, I don't want this to be perceived as a sneaky thing. Use of any contributors images is on an OPT-IN basis. PLEASE reply to this topic if you do want your images to be used for these labels. If you don't then, by default, your images cannot be used.
What's Next?
In the short term, I am going to get the facility able to build up lots of labels on one page for printing. The "select more than one species" function doesn't work yet. I will also look at currency symbols. After that, there needs to be a "select which common name you want to use" function too. Presently all common names are used and that can be a bit OTT in some cases.
I'm not expecting a massive take-up of this initially until it is fully functioning, but, as we always do, I wanted to introduce the function early and open it up for discussion.
At present the is a link near the bottom of every species profile that allows you to get or print a QR code for that species profile or try the BETA label creator. Beta means it's released into the wild, you can use it, but it's pretty much in initial test mode. But go play with it and see what it can do!
Below is a sample QR image.
Here is a sample label page.
Cheers,
Jools
