Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program: Towed-diver Surveys of Large-bodied Fishes of the U.S. Pacific Reefs from 2000 to 2012

The towed-diver method is used to conduct surveys of large-bodied (> 50 cm) fishes 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). A suitable method for assessing relatively large areas of reef habitat, the method involves towing a pair of SCUBA diversâone benthic and one fishâbehind a small boat for approximately 50 min following the ~15-m depth contour and covering about 2â3 km of habitat. Each diver is equipped with a towboard and attempts to maintain a constant elevation above the surface of the reef (~1 m) for the duration of the survey. A complete towed-diver survey is divided into 10 5-min segments, with visual observations recorded by 5-min segment.

The visual estimate data provided in this dataset were collected during towed-diver surveys in which the number, size, and species of all large-bodied fishes observed within a visually estimated 5-m transect on either side of the fish diver and 10 m in front were recorded. The data were collected at coral reefs across all U.S.-affiliated regions as part of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) led missions since 2000. These data can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Ocean Archive.

Tags: 1221, 587, agrihan island, agrihan island (18n145e0002), aguihan, aguihan island (aguijan) (14n145e0006), aguihan island reefs, alamagan island, alamagan island (17n145e0002), american samoa, american samoa (14s170w0000), anatahan, anatahan island, anatahan island (16n145e0001), aquatic habitat, arakane reef, arakane reef (15n141e0001), asuncion island, asuncion island (19n145e0001), baker island, baker island (00n176w0001), biennial, biosphere, c204 pacific reef assessment and monitoring program (pacific ramp): biennial monitoring for the us p, central pacific ocean, cnmi, coastal processes, commonwealth of the northern mariana islands, coral reef conservation program, coral reef ecology, coral reef ecosystem division, coral reef ecosystem program, coral reef studies, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cred, crep, depth - sensor, doc/noaa/nmfs/pifsc, earth science, ecosystem monitoring and assessment, ecosystem sciences division, equatorial pacific ocean, farallon de pajaros, farallon de pajaros (20n144e0001), fish, fish - coral reef, fish assemblages, fish biomass, fish census, fish species, french frigate shoals (24n166w0001), gardner pinnacles (25n168w0001), guam, guam (13n144e0000), guguan, guguan island, guguan island (17n145e0001), hawaii, hawaii island, hawaii island (19n155w0003), hawaiian islands, hawaiian islands (21n157w0027), hi'ialakai, honolulu, howland island, howland island (00s176w0001), in situ biological, jarvis island (00s160w0001), johnston atoll, johnston atoll (16n169w0001), kauai, kauai island, kauai island (22n159w0001), kaula island (21n160w0003), kingman reef (06n162w0001), kure atoll (28n178w0001), lanai island, lanai island (20n156w0002), laysan island (25n171w0001), line islands, linear transect, lisianski island (25n173w0001), main hawaiian islands, manu'a group, manu'a islands (14s170w0038), mariana archipelago, mariana islands, marianas, marianas trench marine national monument, marine biology, maro reef (25n170w0001), maug, maug island, maug island (20n145e0001), maui, maui island, maui island (20n156w0004), mhi, midway atoll (28n177w0001), molokai island, molokai island (21n157w0001), national marine fisheries service, necker island (23n164w0001), nihoa (23n161w0001), niihau island, niihau island (21n160w0001), nmfs, noaa, north pacific ocean, northern mariana islands, northern mariana islands ( cnmi ) (18n146e0000), northwestern hawaiian islands, northwestern hawaiian islands (28n178w0000), numeric data sets, nw pacific, nwhi, oahu (21n157w0003), oahu island, ocean basin, oceans, ofu island (14s169w0013), olosega island (14s169w0014), oscar elton sette, pacific islands fisheries science center, pacific ocean, pacific reef and assessment monitoring program, pacific reef assessment and monitoring program: monitoring coral reef ecosystems of the us pacific i, pacific remote island areas, pacific remote islands marine national monument, pagan, pagan island, pagan island (18n145e0001), palmyra atoll (05n162w0001), papahanaumokuakea marine national monument, pathfinder reef, pathfinder reef (16n141e0001), pearl and hermes reef (27n176w0001), pifsc, pria, raita bank (25n168w0002), ramp, reef assessment and monitoring program, reef fish census, reef habitat, reef monitoring and assessment, rose atoll marine national monument, rose island, rose island (rose atoll) (14s168w0001), rota, rota island, rota island ( luta ) (14n145e0007), saipan, saipan island, saipan island (15n145e0002), santa rosa bank (12n144e0051), sarigan island, sarigan island (16n145e0003), south bank (14s170w0067), south pacific ocean, species identification, species identification - count, species identification - organism length, stingray shoals (20n142e0001), supply reef (16n145e0004), survey, survey - biological, survey - swimmer/diver, swains atoll (11s171w0001), ta'u island (14s169w0012), tatsumi reef (14n145e0011), tds, temperature, tinian, tinian island, tinian island (14n145e0005), tinian island reefs, towboard, towed diver, towed-diver surveys, townsend cromwell, tows, tutuila island (14s170w0016), u.s. department of commerce, united states of america, us doc, usa minor outlying islands, visual estimate, wake atoll, wake atoll (19n167e0001), western pacific ocean, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce