Size Matters: Innovative Length Estimates (SMILE)

Citizen science programs like REEF’s SMILE project empower the public to generate vital monitoring data and actively participate in resource management. With minimal operation and instruction, divers can contribute data via capturing images of economically important species such as groupers, snappers, hogfish, and ecologically vital parrotfish to be measured. The SMILE project leverages affordable, easy-to-use FishSense Lite camera technology, while a stakeholder panel provides guidance on survey methods, species of interest, and image collection locations. All fish abundance and length data will be publicly available to support current research, fisheries management, and future machine learning advancements.

Supported by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, this collaboration among REEF, SAFMC’s Citizen Science Program, SECOORA, Scripps Oceanography, UCSD, and Tetra Tech will introduce a new data source into fisheries stock assessments.

This project can be supported remotely through:

1. Participation in an online survey to assess citizen scientist motivations and demographics for participation in this project, and marine conservation monitoring and technology more broadly,
2. AI annotation for laser location, fish head and tail, fish species, and fish body contouring via an online platform which can be done at the volunteer’s own pace.

You can collect data for this project by diving with the FishSenseLite cameras (currently limited to the Florida Keys).

Additional details at reef.org/smile