Activities
In my work I have examined tropical reef fisheries, community structure, and stock assessment of reef, mangrove and estuarine fishes. Actively involved in annual multi-species visual censuses and seine surveys covering the ocean and bay waters of the Florida Keys. He is leader and co-organizer of the new cooperative Multi-agency Reef Fish Monitoring Protocol for the Florida Keys. This multi-agencies protocol includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and the National Park Service. Further studies being conducted by the finfish program include the settlement of juvenile snapper and groupers in waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and the monitoring of the spatial and temporal movement rates of acoustically tagged snappers and groupers in the Tortugas region. This also included the assessment of annual spawning migratory movements (spawning aggregations) between Riley’s Hump marine reserve, the Tortugas Ecological Reserves and the Dry Tortugas National Park. Identification and monitoring of Fish spawning aggregation in waters of the Florida Keys.
I have been on the Board of Directors of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute for over 8 years. In addition to serving as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of GCFI, he is currently Senior Editor of the GCFI Proceedings and chairman of GCFI program committee which he has served since 2005. He is also the administrator of the UNEP Small Grants Funds for sustainable fisheries.
Skills
Research interests include fish biology and community ecology, especially the relationships between habitat structure and the distribution and abundance of fishes. My work has examined tropical reef fisheries, community structure, and stock assessment of reef, mangrove and estuarine fishes.