REEF recently collaborated with the Northeast Regional Ocean Council to contribute data to the Northeast Ocean Data portal, an interactive, decision-making mapping tool. As part of the effort, a new map layer showing survey locations and observations from REEF's Volunteer Fish Survey Project was added to the Portal. The map layer depicts over 250 scuba diving locations, from Newfoundland to Virginia, where REEF volunteers have submitted reports of their observations of fish and other marine life during dives. Users can click on each location in the REEF Dive Sites and Reports layer, view the site name, and access a summary of diver surveys at that location.
Established in 2009, the Northeast Ocean Data Portal provides free, user-friendly access to interactive maps and data on the ocean ecosystem, economy, and culture of the northeastern United States. The maps show the richness and diversity of the ecosystem and illustrate the many ways that humans and environmental resources interact. The Portal is accessed by government agencies, businesses, non-government organizations (NGOs), academic entities, and individuals, and is used to inform fisheries management, maritime safety, aquaculture siting, offshore wind development, ocean planning, and other processes. Click here to visit the interactive map.