National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) Coral Demographics Survey Field Protocols for U.S. Atlantic: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands 2026

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP)’s biological sampling provides a biennial ecological characterization of general condition for reef fishes, corals, and benthic habitat (i.e., fish species composition, density, 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.