Sampling Design Protocol for the U.S. Caribbean and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary: 2013 to 2015

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) provides a biennial ecological characterization at a broad spatial scale of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition/density/size, benthic cover, and coral density/size/condition). This report describes the sampling designs used to monitor coral reefs and associated biological communities around Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) as part of NCRMP.

NCRMP began in 2013 and over the years the sampling design has changed to integrate new information, achieve new objectives and develop more precise measurements. This report is divided by year and jurisdiction to describe each sampling design. In general sampling for each jurisdiction occurs biennially with sampling in Puerto Rico, and the USVI and Flower Garden Banks occurring in alternating years

To describe the sampling designs used to monitor coral reefs and associated biological communities around Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) as part of NCRMP that were done from 2013-2015