The data collected on our annual cruises is the basis of most of our research, educational and advisory activities so it is important that it is stored and used appropriately. Ship-based data collection is extremely costly which makes it even more important that the ACEP data are archived properly.

Many different types of marine data and information are generated and managed by the ACEP team. A large amount of information about coelacanths, the history of the Programme, our partners and sponsors, events and team members may be found on this site. A dedicated section on technology and equipment showcases some of the tools that are used for research, and the Science section gives an overview of the scientific activities on the Programme. Activities and information for each country may be accessed in the Regional Activities section. The Reports and Publications page provides online access to many of our documents, and the Maps and GIS section is the portal for ACEP's spatial data.

The management of information on the programme is a complex and challenging task. This Overview of Information flow illustrates the interrelationships of the various components of the programme, and the ACEP Information Management Strategy (a new draft will be available on this site by the end of November 2006) provides a guideline for information collection, management and archiving for each sub-discipline. Please view the Expeditions section for an overview of each of the cruises.

Data are collected and used by several scientists based in geographically distant countries and institutions. For that reason, scientific data always remain in their original form with the collecting team, to be written up in scientific papers, management plans, popular articles, or to be incorporated into larger more meaningful data sets that can be used for long-term studies. Copies of all data sets are ALSO lodged with the ACEP secretariat (in the ACEP archive), sent to long term data archivers (SADCO, Marine and Coastal Management, and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, SAIAB, in South Africa), and collaborating institutions and national data centres in the other countries. Certain data are incorporated into the ACEP GIS and data that are open access are made available online.

For more details or questions about Information and data, please contact Lucy Scott: L.Scott(at)ru.ac.za