REEF's aims to educate and enlist divers in the conservation of marine habitats which is accomplished primarily through the Volunteer Fish Survey Project. The Project was developed in 1990 with support from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and guidance by the Southeast Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The project allows volunteer SCUBA divers and snorkelers to collect and report information on marine fish populations as well as selected invertebrate and algae species in temperate reef areas (West Coast of the US and Canada, the South Atlantic States, and the Northeast US & Eastern Canada). All data collected by REEF volunteers is returned to REEF and entered into the database. This database is accessible online and a variety of reports can be generated.