At the end of this month, REEF staff and partners from collaborating institutions including Scripps Oceanography and Oregon State University will be attending the annual scientific conference hosted by the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) in Cartagena, Colombia. This annual gathering brings together scientists, park managers, fishers, and conservation organizations to share the latest in research and initiatives. We will be presenting on several of REEF's programs at this year's conference, including the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, the SMILE project, and the Grouper Moon Project. A full listing of presentations is below. 

REEF staff attend at least one scientific conference each year, thanks to the generous support of our contributing members. Sharing REEF’s projects at these meetings plays a vital role in increasing awareness of the meaningful conservation impacts our programs are having on the world’s oceans. Conferences enable our staff to meet face-to-face with existing collaborators, and strengthen networks to form new partnerships. In addition, these gatherings keep our team at the forefront of marine science, exposing us to cutting-edge research, innovative techniques, and new ideas that inform and inspire our ongoing efforts to protect ocean life.

Presentations given at the 2025 GCFI Conference:

Volunteer Fish Survey Project -

Semmens, BX and M Titcomb. A 30-Year Retrospective: Using Citizen Science Data to Model the Drivers of Caribbean Grouper Trends. Reef-associated groupers are iconic apex predators and critical ecological indicators of reef health, yet many Caribbean grouper populations are experiencing range-wide declines according to the IUCN Red List Index. To evaluate species-specific trends throughout the Caribbean region, the authors of this studies analyzed 30 years (1994–2024) of citizen-science Roving Diver surveys conducted as part of REEF's Volunteer Fish Survey Project.

Titcomb et al. Rethinking Universal Decline: Citizen science reveals heterogeneous, long-term trajectories and regional bright spots for Caribbean sharks and rays. Elasmobranch populations are widely considered to be in decline, but a lack of granular, long-term data has hindered refined regional assessments, forcing a reliance on coarse-scale inferences. To address this data gap, the authors used a similar 30-year dataset from the Volunteer Fish Survey Project to evaluate trends across the Caribbean. The results will be invaluable for developing effective management strategies as nations work to balance fisheries, dive tourism, and conservation. 

SMILE -

Loch, J et al. Advancing Fisheries Science Through Accessible Technology for Community-Driven Reef Fish Monitoring. This presentation will provide an update on the latest advances with REEF's newest conservation science initiative - SMILE (Size Matters: Innovative Length Estimate). The SMILE Project uses trained citizen scientist divers, such as REEF surveyors, equipped with laser-mounted “FishSense” cameras to document lengths of economically-important fish species. After images are collected in the field, AI workflows are used to generate accurate, non-extractive size data. 

Grouper Moon Project -

Layton, J et al. Understanding Energy Output During Spawning Aggregation Events of Tiger Grouper (Mycteroperca tigris) on Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. This study is part of the larger spawning aggregation research conducted as part of REEF's Grouper Moon Project, which focuses on Nassau Grouper but also studies the other species that use the site on the west end of Little Cayman. Our team measured the per-egg energy content of Tiger Grouper during spawning, revealing consistent reproductive energy investment across time, but significantly different from that of Nassau Grouper. These findings help improve our understanding of grouper reproductive ecology and emphasize the need for species-specific conservation strategies in the Caribbean.