Reef Environmental Education Foundation's (REEF)
Fish Survey Project

The Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1990. REEF's mission is to educate, enlist and enable divers to become active stewards in the conservation of coral reefs and other marine habitats. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, REEF established the REEF Fish Survey Project. The Project enables the collection of fish distribution and relative abundance data in the tropical northwest Atlantic, using a standardized visual survey method. Data collected are housed on a publicly-accessible database. The objectives of The Project are:

• to provide training and educational opportunities for SCUBA divers and snorkelers to learn to identify and appreciate marine life,
• to make data and summary reports readily accessible to the marine science, resource management, and conservation communities,
• to promote the diving community as a conservation-minded and active partner in the long-term protection of coral reefs and other marine systems, and
• to encourage support and implementation of effective marine conservation strategies developed through government, private or public frameworks.

As of December 1998, over 14,000 REEF surveys have been conducted from approximately 1,500 sites throughout the tropical northwest Atlantic.

Data for The Project are collected using the Roving Diver Method. The objectives of this survey technique are to gain large quantities of species presence and abundance data from reef sites in Florida, the Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean in a continuous and efficient manner. The diver has free swimming range around the site, but should stay within a 100 m radius. The surveyor records all species seen during the dive on an underwater slate. During or at the immediate conclusion of the dive, the relative abundance of each species sighted is recorded by assigning one of four log logarithmic categories: Single (1), Few (2-10), Many (11-100), or Abundant (>100). After each survey, the sighting and abundance data, along with specific information about the dive and site, are transferred to standardized data scan sheets (available from REEF at no charge). Completed data sheets are returned to REEF where they are scanned, processed and entered into a database housed on the REEF website http://www.reef.org/. Detailed information about the data sheet used can be found at http://www.reef.org/survey/survform.htm.

Once data are entered in the database, a variety of reports can be generated from the website. In addition, custom reports are available by contacting REEF directly.

Surveying Coral Reef Fishes, a manual detailing collection, processing, and interpretation of fish survey information from the Reef Fish Survey Project., was recently published by REEF and The Nature Conservancy and is available for $12USD by contacting Reef052@aol.com or writing REEF at P.O. Box 246 Key Largo, FL 33037.

The Roving Diver Method is a component of the Atlantic and Gulf Reef Assessment (AGRA) Rapid Assessment Protocol (RAP) http://www.coral.noaa.gov/agra/rap-revised.html.

For more information, please contact REEF's Scientific Coordinator Christy Pattengill-Semmens at Pattengill@excite.com.

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Monika Gurnée
CHAMP Webmaster