Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are casting a wide net in search of fish photos. Their immediate goal is to use angler snapshots to train software to identify different species.

Ultimately, they hope to apply that artificial intelligence to a “RecFish” cell phone app, giving anglers a multi-use field guide and scientists a collaborative tool for better management of recreational species.

“We’re really excited about building out our app,” said RecFish founder Lisa Kellogg, a senior research scientist at VIMS.

“Once finished, all you’ll need to do is open the app and point your cell phone camera at a fish and it will instantly tell you the species, size, and approximate weight, and let you record that info to your logbook with the touch of a button.”

The app will also instantly provide information on whether the fish is legal to keep based on the date, location and local fishing regulations.

Before that can happen, the app development team must fir...