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National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish, including benthic estimate data of the Pacific Remote Island Areas

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 08:15 AM | Dataset Last Updated: October 28, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reef fish survey data provided in this collection were gathered as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions around the Pacific Remote Island Areas. The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the ongoing NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method used to gather these data 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 within this collection, 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 region. 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. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area.

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Complete Metadata
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describedByType application/octet-steam
description Reef fish survey data provided in this collection were gathered as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led National Coral Reef Monitoring Program missions around the Pacific Remote Island Areas. The stationary point count (SPC) method is used to conduct reef fish surveys in the Pacific Remote Island Areas as part of the ongoing NOAA National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP). The SPC method used to gather these data 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 within this collection, 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 region. 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. Sampling effort is allocated based on strata area.
distribution 
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/NCRMP-Fish-PRIA.xml
issued 2016-12-16T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
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  "INDIVIDUAL FISH EXAMINATION - LENGTH",
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  "REEF AND/OR BOTTOM REGIME - PERCENT COVER",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION",
  "SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT",
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  "NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette",
  "NOAA Ship Rainier",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ecosystem Sciences Division",
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  "Pacific Reef and Assessment Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP)",
  "Equatorial Pacific Ocean",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "South Pacific Ocean",
  "oceanography",
  "CRED",
  "CREP",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "ESD",
  "Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "PIFSC",
  "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "CRED",
  "CREP",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Division",
  "Coral Reef Ecosystem Program",
  "ESD",
  "Ecosystem Sciences Division",
  "PIFSC",
  "Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS > National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC/ESD > Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "743",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program",
  "National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP)",
  "Numeric Data Sets > Biology",
  "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",
  "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 > 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",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > COASTAL PROCESSES > CORAL REEFS",
  "REA",
  "Rapid Ecological Assessment",
  "Reef Fish",
  "SPC",
  "Stationary Point Count",
  "VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS",
  "STR",
  "Subsurface temperature recorder",
  "Ships",
  "Hi'ialakai (call sign: WTEY, ICES code: 33HL, 2004-)",
  "OSCAR ELTON SETTE (call sign: WTEE, ICES code: 33OC, 2003-)",
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  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Baker Island (00N176W0001)",
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  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Kingman Reef (06N162W0001)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Palmyra Atoll (05N162W0001)",
  "COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > USA Minor Outlying Islands > Wake Atoll (19N167E0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Baker Island > Baker Island (00N176W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Howland Island > Howland Island (00S176W0001)",
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  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Jarvis Island (00S160W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Kingman Reef (06N162W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Line Islands > Palmyra Atoll (05N162W0001)",
  "OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > Central Pacific Ocean > Wake Atoll > Wake Atoll (19N167E0001)",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "PRIA",
  "Pacific Remote Island Areas",
  "Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument",
  "Triennial",
  "6TTE2Y",
  "A3H9FN",
  "CLWM88",
  "M9WMN3",
  "NDXBN9",
  "T3TEY4",
  "YN99L7"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2025-10-28T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/34519",
  "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0157633"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 166.658793,-0.382607,-176.62678161,19.3257
temporal 2014-03-16T00:00:00+00:00/2014-03-16T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Stratified random surveys (StRS) of reef fish, including benthic estimate data of the Pacific Remote Island Areas

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