What is the REEF Fish Survey Project?

REEF's mission, to educate and enlist divers in the conservation of marine habitats, is accomplished primarily through its Fish Survey Project. The Project was developed in 1990 with support from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and guidance by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The REEF Fish Survey Project allows volunteer SCUBA divers and snorkelers to collect and report information on marine fish populations. The data are collected using a fun and easy standardized method, and are housed in a publicly-accessible database on REEF's Website. These data are used by a variety of resource agencies and researchers.

What is the Living REEF Project Invertebrate Monitoring Program?

The Living REEF Project is an invertebrate monitoring program that was created as a companion to the fish monitoring program for the Pacific Northwest. Since this program was launched in 1998, REEF has launched a similar companion program in California. Both of these programs monitor a set of invertebrates (and Algae in California). To find out more, visit the REEF Invertebrate & Algae Monitoring Program page.

How do I conduct a REEF survey?

En Español

To collect data for the Project, REEF volunteers use the Roving Diver Technique (RDT), a visual survey method specifically designed for volunteer data. The only materials needed are an underwater slate and pencil, a scantron form available at no charge from REEF, and a good reference book. Where can I get Scantron forms?

The Survey Method - During RDT surveys, divers swim freely throughout a dive site and record every observed fish species that can be positively identified. The search for fishes begins as soon as the diver enters the water. The goal is to find as many species as possible so divers are encouraged to look under ledges and up in the water column. Any sea turtle species seen during your dive should also be marked. More about the Sea Turtle Program.

At the conclusion of each survey, each recorded species is assigned one of four abundance categories based on about how many were seen throughout the dive [single (1); few (2-10), many (11-100), and abundant (>100)].

Filling out the Scansheet - Following the dive, each surveyor records the species data along with survey time, depth, temperature, and other environmental information on the REEF scansheet specific for the region the survey was conducted in. The location of the survey is recorded using the common dive site name and the REEF Geographic Zone Code. The Zone Codes are a hierarchical list of codes. A separate survey and scansheet are done for each dive. Completed scansheets are returned to REEF HQ, at P.O. Box 246, Key Largo, FL 33037, USA.

Click here to view a short instructional video of the REEF survey method.

Be sure to also visit this very informative tutorial webpage put together by Project S.E.A.-Link, one of our partners in Hawaii. Even though it was written for surveyors in Hawaii, the information is valid for all of REEF's regions.