Counting fish adds up for marine protection

Volunteers have the opportunity to make every dive count toward marine conservation by participating in the Great American Fish Count

July 10, 2000
Web posted at: 11:32 a.m. EDT (1532 GMT)

By Environmental News Network staff

Jump in! The Great American Fish Count is under way.

Coordinated by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, the event takes place each year during the first two weeks of July in coastal waters throughout the United States.

The fish count mobilizes and trains volunteer divers to identify and document fish diversity and population trends.

It began in 1992 when a small group of recreational divers and marine biologists gathered in California's Channel Islands National Park to conduct a standardized fish count.

So far, 23,000 surveys have been filled out by a growing number of participants.

"We focus a lot on marine protected areas," said Laddie Akins, the executive director of REEF. "The higher the sample size, the more statistical power we have to detect change."

At present, less than one percent of marine areas in the United States are designated as no-take zones. Such areas are protected entirely from the fishing industry.

"This helps prove that proposals for no-take areas will have results," Akins said.

On June 29, REEF organized a kick-off dive at Molasses Reef and Pickle's Reef in the Florida Keys. Thirty two areas within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary were set aside as no-take zones in 1997. Less than a half a mile apart, Molasses Reef is designated as a no-take zone while Pickle's Reef remains unprotected. "There is still lots of fishing pressure on Pickle's Reef," Akins said.

The sighting frequency for black grouper (a heavily fished species) was 75 percent at Molasses Reef versus 30 percent at Pickle's Reef. Dog snapper had a 38 percent sighting frequency at Molasses Reef and only a 3 percent sighting frequency at Pickle's reef.

"In almost every case, the abundance of fish goes up in no-take zones," Akins said.

"You never know when you are going to sight a fish you haven't seen before," said Peter Leahy, an amatuer diver who has been participating in the fish count for the last seven years. "All the surveys that I do get added to REEF's database, which is there for anybody to use for research. So I do feel that this is an aid to marine conservation."

Since 1992, 23,000 surveys have been filled out for the Great American Fish Count

"The cost of collecting data using professionals is very expensive," points out Kirby Johnson, also an avid fish counter. There is a real opportunity for volunteers to do some of the simple data gathering at a fraction of the cost, freeing the pros to do more important tasks."

Akins hopes the surveys will aid in the establishment of an ecological reserve in the Dry Tortugas, located west of the Florida Keys.

"The data we collected from other Keys is providing justification for creating this area," Akins said. "Resource managers are looking at the information we have gathered to help shape the process."

"Some of the most well-developed reef areas in the world are in the Dry Tortugas, he said. "There is great potential to replenish the Florida Keys with this reserve."

According to Akins, one of the biggest problems in the diving industry is lack of education. "(Lessons) are all about being safe and not about what you are going to see," he said.

"Once divers know what they are looking at and they have the ability to document what they see, they are much more able to make informed decisions on their own."

Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Feds, marine industry angle for conservation
Counting fish, multiplying opinions
No-take zones benefit fish, lobster populations
Florida's reefs battered by man, nature
The Dry Tortugas: A promise in jeopardy

Great American Fish Count
Reef Environmental Education Foundation
NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries
Tortugas Ecological Reserve Proposal

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