With the rapid expansion of lionfish into the Caribbean, downstream and recently invaded countries are starting to gear up for early detection and rapid response efforts. REEF is leading the way with in-country workshops focused on increasing awareness and training both fisheries and dive operators in collecting and handling techniques. The week of January 25th-31st was spent working with the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Greetings Valued REEF Members,
We are proud to bring you this special edition news flash with exciting and ground-breaking results from this year's Grouper Moon Project. Project scientist, Dr. Brice Semmens, sent in this field report. We also share with you our selection for 2008 Volunteer of the Year and new milestones achieved in the REEF Survey Project database.
Best Fishes,
Lisa
Earlier this week, on March 3rd, 2009, the number of REEF surveys conducted by volunteers in the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA) region (incl. the US East Coast, Caribbean, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico) topped 100,000! The REEF Volunteer Survey Project database as a whole (including all regions) reached this benchmark in October 2006. The 100k surveys have been conducted by 8,582 volunteers at 6,203 sites in the TWA region.
REEF proudly awards our 2008 Volunteer of the Year award to Sheryl Shea, a dedicated REEF surveyor, teacher and ambassador. Sheryl became a REEF member in the very early days of the organization and has consistently been one of our most active surveyors. Her first survey was conducted in 1994 and to date Sheryl has conducted 954 REEF surveys. Sheryl became a member of the Advanced Assessment Team (AAT) in 1999 and her lifelist contains 351 fish species.
Since 2001, REEF has led the Grouper Moon Project, a multi-faceted, collaborative research effort in the Cayman Islands aimed at better understanding Nassau grouper reproduction and the role that marine reserves can play in the long-term protection of this endangered species. The 2009 spawning season was the most ambitious to date for the project. For the first time, we had teams of researchers and volunteers stationed on each of the three Cayman Islands--Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman.
Paul Humann will kick off this new seminar series, presenting "The History of REEF". REEF – the Reef Environmental Education Foundation – is the Florida Keys homegrown ocean environmental organization. Learn how the concept became reality from one of the men who changed how reef fish are identified. Paul Humann is an award winning, renowned underwater photographer/ author and one of the founders of REEF. Paul will be signing books beforehand.
REEF announces the launch of a new seminar series, to be held the 2nd Tuesday of every month in Key Largo. These FREE seminars and lectures are open to the public -- everyone is welcome
Join Us the 2nd Tuesday of Each Month for this exciting series!
6:00-7:300 PM at the James E. Lockwood Jr. REEF Headquarters, Key Largo, MM 98.3 in the median.
Learn how you can make a dive or snorkel that counts. Become a citizen scientist and meet others who share your passion for the underwater world. Snorkelers, divers and armchair naturalists welcome.
Fishery independent indices of abundance for mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis, from REEF fish surveys
REEF data were used to provide a fisheries independant index for use in the mutton snapper stock assessment conducted by the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Councils as part of the SEDAR process. Three indices were calculated with different subsets of the REEF dive surveys: an index based on all dives on Florida’s Atlantic coast; an index based on sites that were visited by divers on at least seven of the 13 years, i.e.
DiveAssure, a leader in the field of diving and dive-travel insurance, has committed to support REEF to advance our projects and activities that benefit marine environments. DiveAssure is offering REEF members a significant discount on two levels of coverage - 50% off the regular price for the Platinum program and 35% off the Diamond program. DiveAssure offers membership benefits including the best insurance programs that are tailored to meet the needs and demands of divers.
Happy New Year! We hope that all of our members had a joyous holiday season. In this first edition of REEF-in-Brief 2009 we bring you news that everyone knew was just a matter of time -- the invasive Indo-Pacific Lionfish has been confirmed in the Florida Keys. Thanks to her experience as a REEF fishwatcher and the numerous outreach stories that REEF has issued to our members, REEF surveyor Becky Fowler knew just what she was looking at last week while diving during her vacation off Key Largo, Florida.