Every November and December, hundreds of divers and snorkelers plunge into the water to take part in the biggest citizen-science event on Victoria’s marine calendar, the Great Victorian Fish Count.

Armed with a dive slate, they record the numbers of a selection of important fish species and report any others not usually found in the area as part of this long-term monitoring of fish across the Victorian coast.

The Count has been running since 2002, led by the Victorian National Parks Association in partnership with Museum Victoria, Parks Victoria, Coastcare Victoria, Redmap, local dive operators and local community groups.

The data collected is uploaded to the Atlas of Living Australia (an online store for biodiversity data, currently with over 67 million records) to improve our knowledge of Victoria’s marine species.

According to Phillip Wierzbowski, from Coastcare Victoria, the Great Victorian Fish Count is “an experience that not only contributes to citizen science while admiring the diversity of Victoria’s marine life, it is great fun too”.

The 2024 Great Victorian Fish Count is running from Saturday 16 November to Sunday 15 December.

Registered survey dates, locations and host contact details can be found below. Remember, you can stay up to date with all the Fish Count news by subscribing to our mailing list!

Want to host a Fish Count event yourself this year? Contact us at [email protected] to learn more about the requirements for hosting a survey and how to register.

 

A note on water quality if you’re out exploring our coast:

Heavy rain and flooding can impact water quality on our coasts. In general the EPA recommends avoiding swimming near stormwater or river outlets 24–48 hours after heavy rain. Within Port Phillip Bay, you can check your local beach conditions at the EPA Beach Report.

2023 GVFC Celebration Night – Respect your elders

It’s been four years since we last caught up in the green building for Great Victorian Fish Count presentations. Now we get the chance to get together in person again and hear stories about our marine environment.

Did you know fish have ears and that by looking at a part of the ear we can determine how old they are? To find out more about fish ears and the information stored in them, leading Fisheries Scientist for the Victorian Fisheries Authority Dr Corey Green will join us.

We will also welcome back Dr Nicole Mertens. Since departing ReefWatch to help save the world at the Blue Carbon Lab, Nicole has been busy learning about all things carbon sequestration in the marine environment. She will share her knowledge and tell us how protecting/restoring blue carbon habitats benefits our fishes and reefs.

Brent Cross (aka Bert) will share his story of turning an unwanted pest (Undaria pinnatifida) into a tasty treat that is starting to turn up in stores and restaurants around Melbourne.

You will also hear from ReefWatch Coordinator Kade Mills about the upcoming Fish Count and results from 2022.

You can view past Great Victorian Fish Count online celebrations and more here.

2022 GVFC Celebration Night – Hidden Gems Full Recording

There’s plenty of reasons to celebrate during the 2022 Great Victorian Fish Count! This year marks 20 years since the creation of Victoria’s Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries network. It’s also been 20 years since some curious Victorians started counting fish.

For this year’s Celebration Night we were joined by guest speakers Travis Dutka of La Trobe University and Michael Sams of Parks Victoria. The theme for 2022 is Hidden Gems- whether it’s the special protected areas that provide refuge for our southern sea life or the iconic but sometimes elusive fish themselves, we all shared a bit about what we consider some hidden gems of Victoria’s coastal and marine environment.

2022 GVFC Celebration Night – Individual Presentations

 

The Australian Ghostshark with Dr Travis Dutka

Dr Travis Dutka from La Trobe University chats all about the Ghostshark or Elephantfish, one of the coolest odd fish you will ever come across. You can watch Travis “fly” like a Ghostshark below.

If you’ve got any questions for Travis about Ghostsharks or his research, you can reach him at [email protected]

 

Twenty Years of Monitoring and Research in Victoria’s Marine Protected Areas with Dr Michael Sams

Dr Michael Sams from Parks Victoria followed up with the challenging task of condensing over 20 years of research in Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries into 15 minutes!

Check out the following resources on Victoria’s Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries network

 

Last Year’s Survey Results, and Thankyou to our Fish Counters with Dr Nicole Mertens

Victorian National Parks Association and ReefWatch’s Dr Nicole Mertens wrapped up the night with a snapshot of the most recent Great Victorian Fish Count results and some awesome images from the archives that took us on a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Past Celebrations

You can view past Great Victorian Fish Count online celebrations and more here.

35 Victorian fish species (including 10 shark and ray species) are included in the Great Victorian Fish Count. Having a select number of “target” species helps us compare data from previous years. However, participants also have the chance to also record any non-target species they encounter when they upload their official results.

Fish Counting can be a bit tricky! While the dive slates used by participants feature beautiful, lifelike illustrations of the fish, including differences in the appearance of males, females and juveniles, seeing them in the field for the first time (especially if they’re quick-swimming) can make identifying them a bit daunting. We’ve put together a photo guide of the GVFC target species to help get your eye in before you dive in to a count.

The print quality pdf is available for download below.

Download GVFC Guide to the Fish Species (15 MB)

Need a smaller file size for Fish Counting on the go? Note: ID image quality is greatly reduced.

Download GVFC Guide to the Fish Species (2 MB)

 

We dove into the archives for this hidden gem – please enjoy this vintage video featuring beautiful footage from Mark Norman, Julian Finn and R Fenwick. Most of the feature fish in this video were chosen as target species for the Great Victorian Fish Count, and the same list of bony fishes we’ve been monitoring for over 10 years. Test your species ID skills and meet some of the friendly faces of our Great Southern Reef in time for the next GVFC!

 

There are many more fish to be found in Victorian waters than we have room for on our survey sheets! Here’s a short list of some of the more common “other” species noted during Great Victorian Fish Counts, along with images to help you identify them in the field.

Download Guide to Other Commonly Spotted Species (4 MB)

Caption: While it is not a target species of the Count, this photo of a White Barred Boxfish taken during a survey at the wreck of the Hurricane in Port Phillip Bay provides evidence that this fish is “on the move” 📷 Peter Beaumont/Atlas of Living Australia.

Many of the images are currently sourced from the wonderful Fishes of Australia, Atlas of Living Australia and iNaturalist Australia shared under a Creative Commons by Attribution Australia License. But we’d love to show off more photos from our own Fish Count community! If you’ve got a clear image of one of the species listed and you want to help our Fish Counters expand their knowledge of target species, you can share it with us at [email protected] .

While you don’t need an underwater camera to take part in a Fish Count survey, we strongly encourage anyone who can to take as many pictures of the target (and non target) species they encounter. This helps boost our confidence in the data as well as being essential for confirming a sighting of rare or unusual fish. Redmap Australia also needs your photos to verify reports of fish on the move due to changes in their environment. ReefWatch has several underwater cameras that can be loaned out to our community- if you’re interested, please contact us.

Another great resource for those wanting to boost their ID skills and contribute to our knowledge of Victoria’s underwater world is ReefWatch’s Marine Life of Victoria project on iNaturalist. Your photos will be verified by our community of experts, helping you learn as you go. You can upload photos from anytime (not just during the Fish Count), of any marine species you encounter in Victorian waters (not just fish!). Learn more about the project here.

What’s a Virtual Fish Count?

In November 2019 ReefWatch went regional to bring a taste of the Fish Count to schools in Bendigo, central Victoria. Students from St Kilians and Quarry Hill primary schools took a virtual dive into the reef at Pope’s Eye in Port Phillip Heads Marine Park, using The Nature Conservancy’s Reef Cam. They recorded the presence and abundance of 35 target species of bony fish, sharks and rays that swam past the camera over a period of approximately 15 minutes, using a dive slate featuring images of these species. The results for each survey were uploaded to the Atlas of Living Australia’s citizen science database along with the rest of the 2019 Fish Counts- together, this data helps create a “snapshot” of the marine life found along the Victorian coast.

The students showed impressive fish ID skills and had thoughtful discussions around how valuable our Great Southern Reef and other temperate marine ecosystems are, both to our marine life and the people who rely on healthy coasts (everyone!). They also identified threats to our reefs and how they could make a positive difference, even from 200 kilometres away. The Virtual Fish Counts were a great way to introduce a wider audience to our coastal environment and hopefully, inspire a new generation of marine biologists, ambassadors and carers.

Sounds fun! Can I join in?

Using the Reef Cam as a Fish Counting resource

You can watch the daily livestream of Reef Cam here. Bear in mind that weather, tides and other conditions can impact visibility, and the camera turns itself off at night. Slack tides give the best viewing conditions, but you’ve always got a chance to see some amazing things whenever you tune in.

Below are three recordings taken from different days and times in November 2019. You can use this footage to do a practice Virtual Fish Count at home. It’s as easy as-

  1. Download the species list and activity sheet. You can use this as a guide to the species you see.
  2. Play any one of the videos below
  3. Try identifying and counting the target species using the activity sheet. You could also grab a spare piece of paper to write down any extra species you think you’ve seen.

 

How many different target species can you count? What is the most/least abundant fish on the reef*? What are the major types of habitat-forming plants or algae that you can see? Did you observe any interesting fish behaviours e.g. feeding or defending territory?

*Note that not all Great Victorian Fish Count target species call Pope’s Eye home, some live in open waters or seagrass beds not rocky reefs, so you probably won’t see every species!

If you, your school or community group is interested in a Virtual Fish Count during the next Great Victorian Fish Count, you can get in touch with Project Officer Nicole at [email protected] .

Download the Virtual Fish Count survey sheet

Caption: The fishy face of the 2020 Great Victorian Fish Count, the Victorian Scalyfin, at home on the reef at Popes Eye 📷 Kade Mills

2020’s Great Victorian Fish Count ran from 14 November until 13 December – and just like the Victorian Scalyfin we were all encouraged to explore our local turf!

Download 2020 Report

Thank you to all the divers and snorkelers who took part in the 2020 Great Victorian Fish Count. Our participating groups rose to the challenges of 2020 and helped us capture a snapshot of the fish to be found right along the Victorian coastline, with 25 groups conducting a total of 56 surveys- a bumper year for fish counts!

Our theme for the year was “Exploring our Home Turf” and the fishy face of 2020 was that delightfully grumpy gardener, the Victorian Scalyfin- a fish that was doing social distancing way before it was cool. We hope you got to meet plenty of fishy locals on your home reefs, piers and underwater meadows.

Some of the highlights from 2020 include:

  • This year’s face of the Fish Count, the Victorian Scalyfin, was recorded in 45% of all surveys. 14 participating groups spotted a Scalyfin at least once.
  • The Blue Throat Wrasse was again the most sighted species, recorded in over 75% of surveys.
  • The Smooth Stingray continues to be the most sighted of the shark and ray species since being added to the Fish Count in 2017. 61% of surveys in 2020 counted at least one Smooth Stingray.
  • Marine parks and sanctuaries continue to be popular sites for the Fish Count. Although only about 5.3% of Victoria’s coastal waters are protected, 29% of our surveys were done in marine protected areas.

The report for 2020 is available for download below.

The 2021 Great Victorian Fish Count was held from 13 November until 12 December- watch this space for updates and the report. To keep up to date with news from previous events and to find out more about future Fish Counts, subscribe to ReefWatch updates at the bottom of this page.

Caption: The colourful Senator Wrasse was the fishy face of 2021’s Fish Count. This fish can be found resting among seaweed across our Great Southern Reef 📷 Nicole Mertens

The Great Victorian Fish Count is supported by the Victorian Government.

Latest report

Download 2020 Report

Thank you to all the divers and snorkelers who took part in the 2020 Great Victorian Fish Count. We hope you enjoyed exploring your home turf!

Some of the highlights from 2020 include:

  • This year’s face of the Fish Count, the Victorian Scalyfin, was recorded in 45% of all surveys. 14 participating groups spotted a Scalyfin at least once.
  • The Blue Throat Wrasse was again the most sighted species, recorded in over 75% of surveys.
  • The Smooth Stingray continues to be the most sighted of the shark and ray species since being added to the Fish Count in 2017. 61% of surveys in 2020 counted at least one Smooth Stingray.
  • Marine parks and sanctuaries continue to be popular sites for the Fish Count. Although only about 5.3% of Victoria’s coastal waters are protected, 29% of our surveys were done in marine protected areas.

 

Previous reports

Download 2019 Report

Download 2018 Report

Download 2017 Report

Download 2016 Report

Download 2015 Report