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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Reef Fish, including Benthic Estimate Data of American Samoa since 2015

Published by Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 02, 2026 at 11:20 PM | Dataset Last Updated: March 01, 2024 at 12:00 AM
The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method catalogs the diversity (species richness), abundance (numeric density) and biomass (fish mass per unit area) of diurnally active reef fish assemblages in shallow-water (less than 30 m) hard-bottom habitats. Visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic complexity are also recorded, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design is employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S.-Pacific regions. For all regions, the survey domain encompasses the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats and the stratification includes island, reef zone, and depth, with the exception of the Main Hawaiian Islands that includes habitat structure type as well. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area. The reef fish and benthic estimate data provided in this data set were collected during SPC surveys as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led NCRMP missions around American Samoa in 2015, 2018, and 2023. Additionally, data collected as part of a PIFSC-funded Reef Fish Survey cruise in American Samoa in 2016 are included as these data are funded separately from but are complementary to the NCRMP-funded data. During the 2016 cruise, some sites were surveyed using both open-circuit SCUBA (OC) and closed-circuit rebreather (CCR), as part of an ongoing assessment of sources of bias in survey count relating to divers' presence. The CCR data is archived separately.

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743 National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Numeric Data Sets > Fish Census EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species Richness EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Rapid assessment studies EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Reef fish census

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@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
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  "hasEmail": "mailto:datagovsupport@gsa.gov"
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Hawaiian and Mariana Archipelagos, American Samoa, and the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method catalogs the diversity (species richness), abundance (numeric density) and biomass (fish mass per unit area) of diurnally active reef fish assemblages in shallow-water (less than 30 m) hard-bottom habitats. Visual estimates of benthic cover and topographic complexity are also recorded, with benthic organisms grouped into broad functional categories (e.g., 'Hard Coral', 'Macroalgae'). A stratified random sampling (StRS) design is employed to survey the coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S.-Pacific regions. For all regions, the survey domain encompasses the majority of the mapped area of reef and hard bottom habitats and the stratification includes island, reef zone, and depth, with the exception of the Main Hawaiian Islands that includes habitat structure type as well. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area. The reef fish and benthic estimate data provided in this data set were collected during SPC surveys as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division) led NCRMP missions around American Samoa in 2015, 2018, and 2023. Additionally, data collected as part of a PIFSC-funded Reef Fish Survey cruise in American Samoa in 2016 are included as these data are funded separately from but are complementary to the NCRMP-funded data. During the 2016 cruise, some sites were surveyed using both open-circuit SCUBA (OC) and closed-circuit rebreather (CCR), as part of an ongoing assessment of sources of bias in survey count relating to divers' presence. The CCR data is archived separately.
distribution 
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "V0_FISH_REA SAMOA 2015.csv",
    "accessURL": "https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157588",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) conducted at various islands in American Samoa (HA1501) in 2015.",
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    "accessURL": "https://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0157633",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program standard operating procedures: collection for Rapid Ecological Assessment fish surveys. PIFSC Administrative Report H-15-07, https://doi.org/10.7289/v5sn06zt",
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    "description": "Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes conducted on open circuit by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) at various islands in American Samoa (SE1602) in 2016.",
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    "description": "Data have been translated by a third party to Darwin Core format and served via the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Data Access portal:

OBIS Dataset Title: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division, National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish in the U.S. Pacific Islands.

Years: 2007-2019

DOI: 10.15468/tk1hwm

OBIS Dataset ID: 2ae2a2bd-8412-405b-8a9f-b71adc41d4c5

OBIS provides a portal or gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been recorded. The datasets are integrated so you can search them all seamlessly by species name, higher taxonomic level, geographic area, depth, and time; and then map and find environmental data related to the locations. There are several ways to access OBIS data: (1) Mapper, (2) API, and (3) R package. The mapper allows you to visualize and inspect subsets of OBIS data. A variety of filters (taxonomic, geographic, time, data quality) is available and multiple layers can be combined in a single view. Layers can be downloaded as CSV files. Developers can access data through the OBIS API or the R package.",
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    "description": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) ERDDAP web service for reef fish data from stratified random surveys conducted by the PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) during ESD-led NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions to Amercian Samoa since 2015.

ERDDAP acts as a middleman between you and various remote data servers. ERDDAP offers an easy-to-use, consistent way to request data: via the OPeNDAP standard. Many datasets can also be accessed via ERDDAP's Web Map Service (WMS). ERDDAP returns data in the common file format of your choice. ERDDAP offers all data as .html table, ESRI .asc and .csv, Google Earth .kml, OPeNDAP binary, .mat, .nc, ODV .txt, .csv, .tsv, .json, and .xhtml. ERDDAP can also return a .png or .pdf image with a customized graph or map. ERDDAP also has web pages (for humans with browsers) and RESTful web services (for computer programs).",
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  {
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    "description": "Observations from stationary point count surveys of coral reef fishes by the NOAA PIFSC Ecosystem Sciences Division conducted at various islands in American Samoa during mission RA2301 in 2023.",
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    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2026. GCMD Keywords, Version 24. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nmfs/pifsc/iso/xml/34520.xml
issued 2024-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "743",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Fish Census",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Aquatic Habitat > Reef Habitat",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Species Richness",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Rapid assessment studies",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Reef fish census",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Reef fish census > Stationary",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Coral Cover",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral Reef Ecology > Rugosity",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Fish > Fish Assemblages",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Macroinvertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Biology > Marine Invertebrates > Macroinvertebrates",
  "FISH - CORAL REEF",
  "FISH BIOMASS",
  "FISH SPECIES",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - ORGANISM LENGTH",
  "survey",
  "survey - biological",
  "survey - swimmer/diver",
  "visual estimate",
  "HI'IALAKAI",
  "Oscar Elton Sette",
  "CORAL REEF STUDIES",
  "Coral Reef Conservation Program",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program",
  "US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Ofu Island (14S169W0013)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Olosega Island (14S169W0014)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Rose Island (Rose Atoll) (14S168W0001)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Ta'u Island (14S169W0012)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > American Samoa (14S170W0000)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Tutuila Island (14S170W0016)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ofu Island (14S169W0013)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Olosega Island (14S169W0014)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Manu'a Group > Ta'u Island (14S169W0012)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Rose Island > Rose Island (Rose Atoll) (14S168W0001)",
  "Rose Atoll Marine National Monument",
  "South Pacific Ocean",
  "CRED",
  "CREP",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "ESD",
  "Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "PIFSC",
  "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "RAMP",
  "REA",
  "Rapid Ecological Assessment",
  "Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program",
  "Reef Fish",
  "SPC",
  "Stationary Point Count",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC > Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "American Samoa"
]
landingPage https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34520
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2024-03-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
rights otherRestrictions, unclassified
spatial -168.1373351,-14.560622,-171.09257371,-11.04525081
temporal 2016-04-15T00:00:00+00:00/2016-05-05T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified Random Surveys (StRS) of Reef Fish, including Benthic Estimate Data of American Samoa since 2015

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