Tasmanian-driven citizen science fuels Smithsonian Institution study on future of fisheries
The Mercury, 18 May 2016.
BIODIVERSITY will be the key to keeping global fisheries going as sea temperatures rise, the prestigious Smithsonian Institution has found in a study backed by Tasmanian-driven citizen science, writes The Mercury.
A Reef Life Survey (RLS) volunteer (Credit: Rick Stuart-Smith)
The latest global analysis of the challenges faced by fisheries was led by the US-based Smithsonian but based on data provided by the Reef Life Survey — a Tasmanian initiative which co-ordinates citizen science conducted by volunteer divers from 10 countries.
“This study is based on more than 4500 underwater surveys,” said Reef Life Survey co-leader Rick Stuart-Smith, from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.
Scientists have long been troubled by the accelerating loss and rearrangement of species as oceans warm, and the idea that biodiversity can offer practical value in combating this has been controversial.
Read more at The Mercury.
