Fish pee on coral reefs in the Caribbean makes Canadian Broadcasting Company
An interview I did a few months ago for Quarks and Quirks on CBC radio recently aired. Yes, of course, it is more about fish pee, but I thought I would post it all the same. It is pretty funny. Scroll down a bit for the actual interview.
Recent work on Nassau Grouper spawning aggregations asks us to rethink current fishing regulations
An exciting new publication just came out helping us better understand Nassau grouper populations in The Bahamas (article here). Using acoustic telemetry data, Dr. Craig Dahlgren and others recorded the movements of different sized Nassau grouper to examine when and where individuals would migrate to spawning aggregations. They found that individuals did not migrate to aggregation sites until they were 54 cm in total body length, suggesting a new and increased minimum size limit for fishing regulations on Nassau grouper. To illustrate, current Bahamian regulation permits a minimum catch size of 3 lbs (1.36 kg), which in our own work on Nassau grouper, we have found individuals to weigh over this amount at 43 cm, ~10 cm less than their potential size of maturation. Furthermore, their movement data also suggests that individuals migrating for the first time were slower than ‘seasoned’ individuals but their swimming speeds were similar on their return home suggesting migration movement behaviors may be learned.
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Hilarious new educational film on our research in Haiti – in Haitian Creole
We have been working with Loggerhead Productions for the past few years on creating films and documentaries about our work in Haiti. Recently Matt just finished a new education film on our local work in Haiti that we will be distributing around to schools and communities in the area where we are working around Ile A Vache, Haiti.
Fishing reduces fish pee on coral reefs
Yup, more about fish pee. As a follow-up to work we have been conducting on the importance of fish excretion (pee) for coastal tropic ecosystems, we describe in a recent study how fishing pressure is reducing this source of nutrients by nearly half on coral reefs across the broader Caribbean. This study highlights an alternative way in which human […]
Lessons from the International Coral Reef Symposium: “We Must Reduce Carbon Emissions”
Last week some 3000 coral reef scientists, including the world’s foremost leaders in all aspects of coral reef ecosystems, met in Honolulu to discuss the fate of coral reefs. The goal of this convention, which is held every four years, was to focus on positive action towards improving reef ecosystems. Unfortunately, when studying coral reefs it is difficult to be optimistic. […]
Bahamas MPAs Featured
In one of the top ecology journals. See page 2.
Marine Megafauna Enjoying Abaco’s Non-developed Shorelines
By Stephanie Wenclawski
Here is an update on our drone project looking at how human activities may affect the distribution of marine megafauna such as sea turtles, sharks, and rays (see here and here for previous posts). So far, we have seen more marine wildlife in non-developed areas with just minutes of aerial footage. For more detail on our latest data, please read more below and enjoy this short clip of a couple of clips from two of our surveys. […]
Bonefish Sunscreen and More
Two new papers from CEI on recent bonefish research. One is on movements around Grand Bahama (pdf here and popular press article here) and the second on how sun protection products affect released fish (pdf here and popular press article here).
Some more great news for the Caribbean: New Shark Sanctuary
“Shark Sanctuaries Announced Around Dutch Caribbean Islands” (click link for article). Great news all around the Caribbean this week with new MPAS in The Bahamas and a Shark Sanctuary in the Dutch Islands. It is fabulous to see such a growing support for the protection of some of the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems as well as the […]
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