Reef Visual Census (RVC) Fish Survey Protocol for Atlantic, U.S. Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) is a broad-spatial snapshot for reef condition (i.e., fish species composition/density/size, benthic cover, and coral density/size/condition) to provide context for local-scale studies of tropical reef ecosystems. Data collection will occur at stratified random sites where the sampling domain for each region (e.g., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), Flower Garden Banks and Florida) is partitioned by habitat type and depth, sub-regional location (e.g., along-shelf position) and management zone. NCRMP is intended to supplement local monitoring efforts by providing large-scale data on reef fishes and the benthos.

NCRMP fish surveys conducted in the US Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico region (Puerto Rico, USVI, Flower Garden Banks) have traditionally used the Belt Transect method. In the Pacific and Florida regions, fish surveys are conducted using the Reef Visual Census (RVC) method. To standardize fish data collection methods and for comparison purposes, all jurisdictions will be using the RVC method for conducting fish surveys beginning in 2016. This protocol will describe fish surveys conducted in the U.S. reefs in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

The goal of the fish community surveys is to collect and report information on species composition, density, size, abundance, and derived metrics (e.g., species richness, diversity) using the RVC point count method (Brandt et al., 2009) in a stratified random sampling design on hardbottom and coral reef habitats in the U.S. coral reef jurisdictions. While all jurisdictions will use the RVC method, slight adjustments must be made in order to account for regional implementation nuances.

In the U.S. Caribbean, RVC will be implemented by a team of two divers, each conducting a 7.5 m radius point count fish survey. The team of two divers serve as a site replicate and data are averaged between both surveys to reduce variability. In Florida, two teams of two divers are deployed and each is averaged respectively.