A fish as beautiful as it is destructive; invasive lionfish have had dramatic impacts on marine ecosystems due to their high reproductive rate and voracious appetites. These visually stunning fish have characteristic red and white stripes and long, fanlike spines and fins.
Since the organization's earliest days, a key aspect of REEF's success has been strategic partnerships with academia, government agencies, and other non-profits. REEF has a long history of collaboration with the scientific community, starting in the early 1990s when REEF's founders worked with researchers from University of Miami, NOAA, and The Nature Conservancy to determine the best protocols for the Volunteer Fish Survey Project. There are currently four students from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego who are working with REEF on various data projects.
Learn all about the invasive lionfish during this free, online workshop. Topics include background of the invasion, lionfish biology, ecological impacts, current research, and safe collecting and handling techniques.
REEF is working with several research partners to test the effectiveness of deep water lionfish traps. Through a grant provided by the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy program, REEF will work with Florida Keys lobster fishers to examine the ability of non-containment traps to target deep water populations of lionfish to understand more about lionfish densities, biology and recruitment rates in the deep reef habitats of the Florida Keys.
Enjoy a casual, fun, face-to-face chat time (via Zoom) with your fellow REEF fish geeks. Webcams encouraged. We'll each get a chance to say hello, and see each other's smiling faces.
Enjoy a casual, fun face-to-face chat time (via Zoom) with your fellow Pacific Northwest REEF fish geeks. Webcams encouraged. We'll each get a chance to say hello, and see each other's smiling faces.
Keys Weekly interviewed REEF Education and Outreach Program Manager, Madalyn Mussey, about the inaugural Fish Out of Water 5K.