National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) Reef Visual Census (RVC) Fish Survey Protocols for the U.S. Atlantic: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands 2026

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP)’s biological sampling provides a biennial ecological characterization of general reef condition for reef fishes, corals, and benthic habitat (i.e., fish community composition, and species-specific density (abundance) and size; coral species composition, density, size, condition; and benthic community cover) at a broad spatial scale (CRCP 2021). In the U.S. Atlantic, NCRMP biological sampling includes coral reef and hardbottom habitats in Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).