Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
20101220
CRED Towed-Diver Fish Biomass Survey at Swains, American Samoa in
2010
spreadsheet
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pacific-islands/ecosystems/surveying-vast-ocean
To support NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) long-term
goals for sustainable management and conservation of coral reef
ecosystems, towed-diver surveys (AKA towboard surveys) are
conducted by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) of the
NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) as part of
Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) Cruises. 9
towboard surveys (totaling 17.65 km in length) were conducted at
Swains in American Samoa from 2010-02-17 to 2010-03-23 as part
of RAMP Cruise HA1001. Towboard surveys are a good method for
obtaining a general description of large reef areas, assessing
the status of low-density populations of large-bodied reef fish,
large-scale disturbances (e.g., bleaching), general distribution
and abundance patterns of macro-invertebrates (e.g., crown of
thorns sea stars, giant clams), and for assessing trends in
these populations and metrics. A pair of scuba divers (1 fish
diver and 1 benthic diver) are towed 60 m behind a small survey
launch at a speed of 1-2 knots and a depth of approximately 15
m. Each survey is 50 min long, covers about 2 km of habitat, and
is divided into ten 5-minute survey segments. The fish diver
records, to the lowest possible taxon, all large-bodied reef
fishes (greater than 50 cm total length) seen within 5 m either
side and 10 m in front of the towboard. Length of each
individual is estimated to the nearest cm. The fish towboard is
also outfitted with a forward-facing digital video camera to
record the survey swath. The benthic diver records percent cover
of coral and macroalgae, estimates benthic habitat type and
complexity, and censuses a suite of benthic macroinvertebrates
including crown of thorns sea stars and sea urchins. The benthic
towboard is equipped with a downward-facing digital still camera
which images the benthos at 15-second intervals. These images
are analyzed for percent cover of coral, algae, and other
benthic components. Both towboards are equipped with SEABIRD
SBE-39 temperature/depth sensors set to record at 5-second
intervals. Latitude and longitude of each survey track is
recorded at 15-second intervals using a Global Positioning
System (GPS) receiver onboard the tow boat. A layback algorithm
is applied to more accurately map the position of the divers
with respect to the reef environment. This algorithm calculates
the position of the divers based on the position of the tow boat
taking into account the length of the tow rope, the depth of the
divers, and the curvature of the survey track. This metadata
applies to the fish biomass observations.
Part of a biennial long-term monitoring program which documents
status and trends of coral reef ecosystems within the United
States Pacific Territories .
Data collected: Species level abundance and length information
for coral reef fishes greater than 50 cm total length. Data is
linked to a geographic shapefile via DiveID or SegID. Abundance
and/or biomass data can be provided at the species or family
level.
20100316
20100317
Ground Condition
asNeeded
-171.09291551
-171.06380352
-11.04520862
-11.06860808
NCEI Geoportal FilterCoRIS_MetadataCRCP ProjectPacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP): Biennial monitoring for the U.S. Pacific Islands and Atolls1221
None
Marine Ecosystem
Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP)
Towed Diver Surveys
Coral Reef
Reef Fishes
Benthic Habitat
American Samoa
Swains
HA1001
CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus
Numeric Data Sets > Biology
CoRIS Theme Thesaurus
EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs
EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Coastal Processes > Coral Reefs > Coral reef ecology
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment
EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Zoology > Corals > Reef monitoring and assessment > Reef fish census
ISO 19115 Topic Category
biota
002
None
American Samoa
Swains
CoRIS Place Thesaurus
OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)
COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > American Samoa > American Samoa > Swains Atoll (11S171W0001)
CoRIS Region
AmSam
None
Please cite CRED when using data. Coral Reef Ecosystem Division,
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818
USA
808 725-5360
808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
Marie Ferguson and Kerry Grimshaw, Coral Reef Ecosystem
Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Sciences Center,
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
Not applicable
Unclassified
Not applicable
Oracle
Observations were made by the divers who are trained in fish
taxonomy. Divers may change from year to year and by location.
The same data collection protocols were used at each island or bank
surveyed.
The towboard surveys are completed in forereef, backreef, and
lagoon habitats. The minimum spatial resolution of the towboard
survey is the 5-minute survey segment which covers approximately
200 m. As such, these surveys are appropriate for broad estimates
but cannot be used for fine scale, site-level data analysis.
Although resource grade GPS units were used and a layback
model was applied to the survey tracks, the exact survey
positions were not physically marked and effort was not made
to re-visit exact same tracks.
1
Instrument parameters
SeaBird SBE-39 temp/depth recorder
0.3
Instrument parameters
The towboard survey involves a pair of scuba divers who are
towed 60 m behind a small boat at a constant speed (~1.5
knots). The towboard survey is typically 50-min long and
covers about 2 km of habitat, depending on the depth profile
of the divers. The survey is divided into ten 5-min segments.
During the survey, the fish diver records, to the lowest
possible taxon, large fishes observed within a survey swath 5
m to either side of the diver and 10 m in front the diver.
Unknown
0.0001
0.0001
Decimal Degrees
World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84)
Geodetic Reference System 80 (GRS80)
6378137
298.2572236
Local surface
1
meters
Explicit Depth Coordinate Included with Horizontal Coordinates
Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Data Manager
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818
USA
808 725-5360
808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
Offline Data
While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are
accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of
the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by
errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of
the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no
warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution
constitute such a warranty.
xls (Microsoft Excel worksheet) or csv (comma-separated
values)
CD-ROM or email
ISO 9660
None if receiving the data online
Contact CRED data management team for information
Contact CRED data management team for information
20190605
20101229
Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
mailing and physical address
NOAA IRC
NMFS/PIFSC/CRED
1845 WASP Blvd., Building 176
Honolulu
HI
96818
USA
808 725-5360
808 725-5429
nmfs.pic.credinfo@noaa.gov
e-mail preferred
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
20101229092420
None
20100316
20100317
https://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/swainsfishtowmetadata2010.html
6126