2022 June Seminar-Estuarine Fish Monitoring Cooperative

The novel Estuarine Fish Monitoring Cooperative will be the topic of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of Skidaway’s upcoming meeting and seminar to be held on Monday, June 13, at St. Peter’s Church beginning at 7:00 pm. The speaker will be  Rachel Guy, Ph.D., currently serving as the Research and Monitoring Program Coordinator for the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (SINERR).

Long-term water quality monitoring has been on-going for at least 20 years in Georgia estuaries.  To connect water quality to what’s happening to Georgia fishes, SINERR has led the effort to start a crowd-sourced estuarine fish monitoring program.  The Estuarine Fish Monitoring Cooperative, which was initiated in 2021, will lead researchers to better understand the habitats of estuarine fish and how fish communities may be influenced by changes in water quality.  Importantly, this program serves as an education program, training future coastal scientists, and giving the public an opportunity to learn about the diversity of fish in our estuaries beyond what they may find at the end of their hooks.

Rachel Guy, Ph.D., currently serves as the Research and Monitoring Program Coordinator for SINERR.  In 2012, she began her research on the Georgia coast for her dissertation for which she developed spatial models of the distribution of juvenile fishes in the estuaries and used these models to forecast changes to the habitat under different sea level rise scenarios.  She began her position at SINERR in 2016 and obtained her doctoral degree in 2018 from the University of Georgia.  Her current research interests include spatial ecology, estuarine fish communities,  the effects of climate change on ecosystem processes, and supporting sustainable and resilient coastal communities.  She’s been fishing since she could walk and baiting her own hooks for nearly as long.  She’s passionate about conserving fish and fish habitats for future generations to enjoy.

Two lucky attendees of the CCA’s June meeting will take home terrific raffle prizes:  1) a middle weight rod and open-spinning reel suitable for freshwater or saltwater fishing and 2) a heavy-duty tackle box ideal for fishing in Landings waters.

CCA is a non-profit organization with chapters on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts.  For more information about CCA of Skidaway, contact Dave Devore, (330) 329-6457.  For more information about CCA’s Georgia District, contact Tom Rood, 598-9753.  For information about this month’s meeting and seminar, contact Paulette Hamilton, (610) 509-0279.