This paper presents exciting results from the Grouper Moon Project, documenting conservation success for endangered Nassau Grouper. Results of the analysis showed that on both Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands, Nassau Grouper spawning aggregations have more than tripled in response to adaptive management by the Cayman Islands government over a decade.
As 2020 gets underway, here are a few 2019 highlights from the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, REEF's citizen science marine life monitoring program, as of Jan 5, 2020.*
698 volunteer surveyors conducted and submitted 11,065 surveys in 2019. This number will definitely rise as members catch up on their backlog of data entry.
An additional 1,329 surveys were submitted in 2019 that were conducted in previous years.
Earlier this fall, REEF's Director of Science, Christy Pattengill-Semmens, attended the Biodiversity_Next conference in the Netherlands, joining over 700 other participants from 76 countries. The conference brought together major international organizations, research scientists, and policy makers to jointly identify "socio-technical bottlenecks and horizon-scan opportunities around data-intensive biodiversity and geodiversity research". Put more simply, building a global infrastructure for biodiversity data.
In November 2019, REEF and the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment (DOE) presented Grouper Education Program teacher workshops on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Cayman Islands. The workshops, led by Grouper Moon educator, Todd Bohannon, and Bradley Johnson from DOE, provided educators with a marine science curriculum based on the Grouper Moon Project for intermediate/elementary and high school students.
REEF's Director of Science, Dr. Christy Pattengill-Semmens, was voted on to the Board of Directors of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) at the GCFI Conference earlier this month.
We are excited to share that REEF’s Amy Lee was awarded the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA)'s Wave Makers award for 2019 last weekend at the DEMA Show in Orlando, Florida. She was selected for this early career award for the impact she is having through conservation and education initiatives in the dive industry. Amy is REEF’s Trips Program and Communications Manager and has been part of our staff team since 2015. Through all aspects of her work, Amy strives to merge her passions for diving, communication, science, and travel.
REEF staff and partners just returned from the annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) conference, held this year in the Dominican Republic. REEF’s programs and data were represented to the GCFI community by REEF Director of Science, Christy Pattengill-Semmens, and REEF Invasive Species Program Manager, Alli Candelmo, as well as our partners from Scripps Institute of Oceanography (Brice Semmens), Oregon State University (Scott and Selina Heppell), and Cayman Island Department of Environment (Bradley Johnson).
An overview of a scientific paper published in January 2019, documenting a precipitous decline in Sunflower Sea Star, primarily linked to the devastating sea star wasting disease epidemic that was wide-spread along the US and Canadian west coast starting in 2013, as well as warming ocean temperatures. The study used almost 11,000 REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project surveys collected between California and Alaska between 2006 and 2017 to evaluate the massive decline.
We are excited to share that Amy Lee has been selected by the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) Awards Committee as one of four finalists for the 2019 DEMA Wave Makers Award, an early career award for those making an impact in the diving industry.
A new paper was recently published in the scientific journal, BioInvasions Records, that provides an updated look at non-native marine fishes that have been reported from Florida waters through REEF's Non-Native Species Reporting Program and other sources. The paper also provides information on Early-detection/Rapid-response (ED/RR) efforts. In addition to the well-known invasion of non-native lionfish (Pterois volitans and P. miles), there are now 39 other non-native marine fishes that have been documented in Florida.