REEF members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. Over 50,000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission.
This month we highlight Nick Brown. A US Pacific Northwest native, Nick is currently living in St. Kitts. Nick has been a REEF member since 2004 and has since conducted 138 surveys. He is a member of the PAC Advanced Assessment Team. Here's what Nick had to say about REEF:
How did you first volunteer with REEF?
Summer may be at an end, but that doesn’t mean a fish enthusiast has to be left in the cold! As part of its ongoing fish identification webinar series, “Fishinars”, Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) will offer three informative, educational, and always amusing presentations over the next few months. “Lesser Known Fish of Cozumel”, presented October 17 at 8 p.m. EST by Tracey Griffin, highlights the eponymous Caribbean critters; “Fish Geek” Jonathan Lavan will showcase uncommon dorsal fins with “Feel the Beat!
After several years of planning and collaborating with local marine scientists and divers, REEF has expanded the Volunteer Fish Survey Project into another region: the South Atlantic States (SAS). Recreational and scientific divers in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia now have survey materials specific to the local ecosystem, including waterproof color ID cards, waterproof survey paper, teaching curriculum, data entry, and online data summaries.
As part of our efforts to address the lionfish invasion to the western Atlantic, REEF received a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service Aquatic Invasive Species Program to organize and lead lionfish workshops throughout the Southeast United States. Between August and October, REEF staff Keri Kenning and Lad Akins will be traveling to more than a dozen coastal communities to present information on the lionfish invasion and hands-on demonstrations on collecting and handling.
Under sunny Florida skies, 27 teams of lionfish hunters took part in the Fourth Annual Key Largo Lionfish Derby on Saturday, September 14 at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Exceptional weather and growing awareness of the lionfish issue facilitated record catches of the invasive species.
Join Smoky Mountain Divers-Carolinas for 2 days of wreck diving with SAS group fish identification. Trip fee of $295 includes 2 regular day 2-tank offshore boat dives and airfills. Lodging, tanks, and dive gear is on your own. Dive Saturday and Sunday (Sept 28-29). Fish ID Data sheets are availble if needed.
A brief history of REEF's Volunteer Fish Survey Project and other programs...
Federal and state fisheries lift spearfishing restrictions in certain areas for REEF's lionfish derby.
Divers aboard Discovery Diving's Boat
Contact:
Christine Ward‐Paige; Halifax, NS; globalshark@gmail.com, www.eShark.org
Boris Worm; Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS; bworm@dal.ca; (902) 494‐2478
