Rebreather fish surveys in American Samoa from 2016-04-15 to 2016-05-05 (NCEI Accession 0157573)
Surveys were conducted in the course of a reef fish survey cruise conducted by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) at the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC). These data come from surveys conducted using closed-circuit rebreathers. The use of rebreathers is intended to provide data that can be compared against data gathered on open-circuit SCUBA, which is the breathing apparatus typically used by CREP. The survey domain encompassed hard bottom habitats in American Samoa and the stratification included island, reef zone, and depth. Sites were surveyed using the stationary point count (SPC) method to quantify reef fish assemblages. At each survey site, fish biologists entered the water and conducted paired fine-scale (~700 square meters) and high degree of taxonomic resolution Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) survey to assess species diversity, size distribution, and abundance of fishes at the site. At each site, one survey was conducted on open-circuit SCUBA and one on closed-circuit rebreather. Only rebreather survey data is described here. All reef fish and benthic estimate data collected during SPC surveys on SCUBA can be accessed online via the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Metadata for SCUBA surveys at these sites is available at https://inport.nmfs.noaa.gov/inport/item/34515
Dataset Citation
- Cite as: Coral Reef Ecosystem Program; Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (2017). Rebreather fish surveys in American Samoa from 2016-04-15 to 2016-05-05 (NCEI Accession 0157573). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0157573. Accessed [date].
Dataset Identifiers
ISO 19115-2 Metadata
gov.noaa.nodc:0157573
Download Data |
|
Distribution Formats |
|
Ordering Instructions | Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions. |
Distributor |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information +1-301-713-3277 ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Dataset Point of Contact |
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.info@noaa.gov |
Time Period | 2016-04-15 to 2016-05-05 |
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates |
West: -170.838
East: -168.138
South: -14.5606
North: -14.1486
|
Spatial Coverage Map |
General Documentation |
|
Associated Resources |
|
Publication Dates |
|
Data Presentation Form | Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns |
Dataset Progress Status | Complete - production of the data has been completed Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility |
Data Update Frequency | As needed |
Supplemental Information | In this accession, NCEI has archived multiple versions of these data. The latest (and best) version of these data has the largest version number. |
Purpose | The goal of these surveys was to assess the effect of reducing the disturbance caused by divers on reef fish counts, at a range of locations varying from relatively heavily to relatively lightly fished areas. More specifically, it is understood that in locations with heavy fishing pressure, some fishes can associate the presence of divers with a risk of being targeted. There is therefore potential for diver presence to cause avoidance behavior which could lead to lowered fish counts and inaccurate estimates of differences between heavily-fished and lightly-fished locations. One of the main sources of disturbance caused by most SCUBA divers comes from the bubbles released by open circuit SCUBA equipment when divers exhale. Those bubbles produce both a visual and audible disturbance. Closed circuit rebreathers do not release bubbles during normal operations, and therefore use of rebreathers has the potential to reduce disturbance and possibly therefore reduce avoidance behavior, leading to more accurate counts in some locations. Because the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CREP) of NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) uses fish surveys by divers on SCUBA to gather data that is used for a variety of management and research purposes -- including the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) -- a series of studies were initiated to assess the importance of this issue, and these data are from those comparative surveys. |
Use Limitations |
|
Dataset Citation |
|
Cited Authors | |
Principal Investigators | |
Collaborators | |
Contributors | |
Resource Providers | |
Sponsors | |
Publishers |
Theme keywords |
NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS
|
Data Center keywords | NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords |
Instrument keywords | NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords |
Place keywords |
NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS
CoRIS Place Thesaurus
|
Project keywords |
NODC PROJECT NAMES THESAURUS
|
Keywords | NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER |
Keywords |
Send2NCEI Submission Package ID
|
Use Constraints |
|
Access Constraints |
|
Fees |
|
Lineage information for: dataset | |
---|---|
Processing Steps |
|
Output Datasets |
|
Lineage information for: dataset | |
---|---|
Processing Steps |
|
Acquisition Information (collection) | |
---|---|
Instrument |
|
Last Modified: 2024-09-17T19:16:35Z
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov