The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is charged with sustaining and managing the nation’s living marine resources. This is done in cooperation with the community at large including members of the regional Fisheries Councils, environmental advocates, politicians, scientists with many varied specialties, fishermen, economists, and policy makers. These people are rarely specialists in biodiversity. The (US) Marine Biodiversity Database (MARBID) is a National Marine Fisheries Service project that filters and rates biodiversity information to facilitate decision making by this diverse group. The ratings are non-parametric Bayesian (relative) confidence limits on the information within MARBID. These are based on metadata, information on data. Individuals using MARBID will have instant knowledge of the data’s taxonomic reliability when making decisions concerning the ocean’s sustainability. This paper will introduce the philosophy, components and organization of MARBID.

Mickevich, M.F., and B.B. Collette. 2000. MARBID: NOAA/NMSF’s (US) Marine Biodiversity Database. Oceanography 13(3):75–78, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2000.14.

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