FUN FISH Survey Dives
Fish Identification Class to be held Wednesday evening July 9th from 6 pm to 9pm at Hydrosports Dive and Travel ; located at 3846 River Road North Keizer, Oregon. The Fish Id class is free of charge and will introduce the basics of fish identification and the 40 most common fish encountered in the Pacific North West. ID Class will be taught by Carol and Gregg Cline, Expert Fish Surveyors who are both part of the REEF Advanced Assessment Team for the PNW.
REEF Staff and Board members are proud to announce the release of our 2013 Annual Report. To view a PDF of the report online, click here. In this report, you will find updates on our membership, the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, regional activities, special projects including Invasive Lionfish Research and the Grouper Moon Project, data use and publications, our upcoming plans, and finances. We are truly grateful for all your support that made 2013 such a success!
With Jamie's arrival at REEF Headquarters, we have been busily working on an exciting lineup of Field Survey trip destinations for 2015. REEF Trips offer a great introduction to fish identification for novice fishwatchers, and are a fun way for experienced surveyors to build their life list while interacting with fellow fishwatchers. REEF staff, board members, and other REEF experts lead these trips, and each features daily classroom seminars and a full diving schedule.
Next time you sign up for one of REEF’s Field Survey Trips, you’ll be greeted by a new voice. REEF has added a new member to the team; welcoming Jamie Dietrich as the new Trips Program and Communications Manager! As Jamie’s position title implies, her main responsibilities revolve around managing REEF’s Field Survey Trips Program. Each year, REEF leads 10-15 week long international Field Survey Trips to diving destinations across the world.
|
|
Frequent culling of the invasive Indo-Pacific Lionfish throughout the Caribbean has been shown to cause a shift towards more wary and reclusive behaviour by lionfish, which has prompted calls for halting culls. This paper, co-authored by REEF Lionfish Program researchers, addresses those concerns and reviews research conducted by REEF and other research efforts. Culling successfully lowers lionfish numbers and has been shown to stabilise or even reverse declines in native prey fish.
This study, co-authored by scientists from REEF's Grouper Moon Project, evaluated genetic connectedness between Nassau Grouper populations throughout the Caribbean. The authors obtained genetic tissue samples from 620 Nassau Grouper from 19 sites across 9 countries, including the Cayman Islands. They found evidence for strong genetic differentiation among Nassau Grouper subpopulations throughout the Caribbean. These results suggest that, despite a lack of physical barriers, Nassau grouper form multiple distinct subpopulations in the Caribbean Sea.