Bermuda BREAM

10/9/2009 10:27:00 AM Renowned naturalist's voyage into Bermuda's waters A queen conch fish is not the kind of creature to get everyone's pulse racing. Compared to a hump back whale, a tiger shark or a manta ray, the tiny shell-dweller barely registers a blip on the interest level of most amateur ocean ­explorers. But when you've classified, described and photographed almost every known fish in the ocean, coming across something you haven't seen before is a genuine thrill. Ned de Loach wrote the book on scuba diving - literally. His encyclopedic 'fish identification' manuals, compiled along with Paul Humann, are bibles for divers everywhere. A soggy well-thumbed copy of the regional edition - a consultative manual that put a name and a face to the mysterious creatures that lie beneath the ocean's surface - can be found on most dive boats around the world. Mr. de Loach has been diving for forty years - taking pictures of sea creatures and documenting the...

From Royal Gazette, Oct. 1st 2009 [ link ] By Tricia Walters Photo by Tricia Walters Forward thinking: Director of the Department of Environmental Protection, Dr. Fred Ming and Marine Resource Officer, Dr. Tammy Trott. The sea is not a limitless resource, nor can it absorb any and everything we humans put in it. As the world's population grows so too does competition for limited marine resources, resulting in a cycle of adverse changes to our oceans. Some of the worst culprits are overfishing and pollution, together with emissions of excessive amounts of carbon diox...

Expert warns against eating sickly fish By Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch Fish Pathologist Dr. Wolfgang Vogelbein at a press conference about recent fish die-offs. Photo: Mark Tatem An overseas fish expert yesterday called the recent fish die-off concerning. But he urged people to use common sense when it came to eating fish, saying the majority of those caught are safe. Wolfgang Vogelbein is a highly regarded fish pathologist and professor of marine science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science...

Two coral racks located in 9-m depth, holding 20 corals each. This close-up photo shows the wire and bar used to make the racks, and some of the corals we are studying. BREAM researcher Jessie Hallett is deploying juvenile corals epoxyed to small tiles on this coral rack. Once the corals are held on the racks for a short period to recover, they will be used in an experiment on a nearby reef. BREAM has built and deployed mesh racks for holding reef corals, out at our research area in the North Lagoon. We are using these racks for two reasons: (1) to carry out experiments on coral growth under different environmental and experimental conditions, and (2) to use as "holding pens" for corals in need of relocation after ship groundings, shoreline development or other human activities. Corals grow better when water flow is un-impeded, and corals placed on the racks 2 months ago seem very healthy thus far.

Royal Gazette: September 15. 2009 01:56PM Residents are being advised not to panic over the numbers of dead fish that have washed up on Bermuda’s shores in recent weeks. Hundreds of e-mails have been circulated by persons concerned about the die-off, with many warning against eating local fish. Government is to hold a press conference today, however Environmental Protection director Fred Ming told The Royal Gazette: “I think it would be wise not to eat any fish that looks like it is lethargic [unresponsive] or has lesions or any signs on the body of damage. Do not eat them because we don't know what's involved.” Dr. Ming said people should be cautious, but there is no need to panic. At this point, he doesn't discourage anyone from swimming or fishing. “We don’t know what is causing this and what we have done is assign a team of scientists, technicians and so forth representing the department, conservation services and BIOS. We have been out on one outing and we will send pe...

Rob Fisher setting up a transect line on Bermuda's forereef terrace A fundamental impediment to marine resource management in Bermuda is the lack of critical baseline data of the benthic and fish populations present across fore-reef habitats, and within current marine protected areas of the Bermuda Platform. These reef habitats are large, covering over 300 sq. km., and of global significance as preliminary surveys indicate that the Bermuda fore-reef contains some of the healthiest coral and herbivorous fish assemblages remaining in the Western Atlantic. As part of the BREAM mandate, and with the BZS research vessel "Endurance" and with financial assistance from the Department of Conservation Services ( link ), the Atlantic Conservation Partnership, and the Overseas Territories Environment Programme ( link ), w e are going to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the entire fore-reef habitat at 10-m depth intervals across 3 depth zones, and of all spatially-bounde...

Prior BREAM research intern Matt Strong is hosting a Lionfish Tournament next weekend: SHOW SOME REEFSPECT AND "EAT'UM TO BEAT'UM" Host: GROUNDSWELL Price: $15 per individual & $30 per boat Date: Sunday, August 23, 2009 Time: 7:00am - 3:00pm Location: Pier 41 Marina - Dockyard Phone: 7047413OR3314440 Lion Fish Tournament Aug 23rd JUNGLE RULES APPLY Safely catch as many Lion fish as you can; spear them, hook them, net them. Basically get them how ever you can legally and safely. All Lion Fish Catches accepted - no size or number limits Tournament time: Sun-up to 3 p.m. SET ON AFTER at PIER 41 MARINA IN DOCKYARD From 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Weigh-in and Awards/Prize Giving Lion Fish- Handling, Preparation and Tasting Big Tune by Harrington Sound... THESE FISH ARE DANGEROUS TO HANDLE. THEY HAVE VENOMOUS SPINES. EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFORE HANDLING. ENTER TOURNAMENT AT YOUR OWN RISK. We will have two information sessions and lion fish collection permit cou...