Fiji Butterflyfish Count

Last Saturday, Nov 8, I had what I guess could be called my first real project. Helen Sykes, an environmental consultant in Suva, started this awareness-building activity called "The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count". Basically, the idea is similar to Audubon's Christmas Bird Count. Resorts and villages register to do the count during the first week of November and are sent free underwater dive slates featuring detailed pictures of all 27 species of butterflyfish found in Fiji. Butterflyfish eat coral polyps, and are therefore only found on coral reefs. Their abundance and diversity are directly related to the health of the reef. As such, they are excellent indicator species for assessing the health of the reef.
I registered my village to do the count, went around the village promoting the idea, and then found a boat owner who was willing to take me. I then bought four gallons of outboard Premix fuel and came to the village early on Saturday to see who wanted to go. I really didn't have too many people committed to going beforehand, but on Saturday morning I got a pretty big group of people who decided to go at the last minute. A lot of people brought spear guns and fishing line. I asked them to not fish for the 30 minutes it took to do the count, after which we could fish to our heart's content.
Some of the people I went out with really seemed to enjoy identifying the fish. Just observing the reef without trying to harvest something from it was probably a new thing for them. When I collected the dive slates I saw a lot of wacky results. A lot of fish were marked that I'm sure were not there. Despite this, I feel the activity was a success.
I have been fishing several times in Fiji so far, but this trip was the first time I had ever used a speargun. Conservationist that I am, I have to admit that it was freakin' fun. I killed a couple of snappers (kabatia) and one lobster (urau). On the reef I saw a 4ft long nurse shark (qio), which I did not even think about shooting, as well as a few blue-spotted stingrays (vai), which I really did not even think about shooting.
Fijians have always used the reef for sustanence, so I had no problem taking them out on an educational trip and then killing a bunch of fish with them. I am hoping to use my two years here to help them realize that they can get more from their reefs if they practice a bit of restraint, for example by establishing Marine Protected Areas and obeying catch limits. As it is, the villagers will kill pretty much any fish they see whether it is a juvenile or adult, fish on all parts of the reef, and catch any sea turtle they see.
I think my village was actually the only one to register for this event- all other participants were resorts. I have told some of the other environmental volunteers about this activity, so hopefully they can get their villages to do it next year.