Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program Data Report
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Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program Data Report Ecological monitoring 2012–2013—reef fishes and benthic habitats of the main Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, and Pacific Remote Island Areas A. Heenan1, P. Ayotte1, A. Gray1, K. Lino1, K. McCoy1, J. Zamzow1, and I. Williams2 1 Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research University of Hawaii at Manoa 1000 Pope Road Honolulu, HI 96822 2 Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA Inouye Regional Center 1845 Wasp Boulevard, Building 176 Honolulu, HI 96818 ______________________________________________________________ NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center PIFSC Data Report DR-14-003 Issued 1 April 2014 This report outlines some of the coral reef monitoring surveys conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Division in 2012 and 2013. This includes the following regions: American Samoa, the main Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Remote Island Areas. 2 Acknowledgements Thanks to all those onboard the NOAA ships Hi`ialakai and Oscar Elton Sette for their logistical and field support during the 2012-2013 Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (Pacific RAMP) research cruises and to the following divers for their assistance with data collection; Senifa Annandale, Jake Asher, Marie Ferguson, Jonatha Giddens, Louise Giuseffi, Mark Manuel, Marc Nadon, Hailey Ramey, Ben Richards, Brett Schumacher, Kosta Stamoulis and Darla White. We thank Rusty Brainard for his tireless support of Pacific RAMP and the staff of NOAA PIFSC CRED for assistance in the field and data management. This work was funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. 3 Acronyms CRED Coral Reef Ecosystem Division CRCP Coral Reef Conservation Program NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific RAMP Pacific Reef Assessment Monitoring Program SPC Stationary Point Count PMNM Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument PRIA Pacific Remote Island Areas 4 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Background .................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Monitoring scope and historical programmatic changes .............................................................................................. 8 Report structure ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Methods .................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Sampling domain and design ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Site selection ................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Sampling methods ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Counting and sizing reef fishes ................................................................................................................................ 12 Assessing benthic habitat characteristics .................................................................................................................. 13 Data entry and storage ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Data quality control ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 Data handling .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Calculating fish biomass and benthic cover estimates per site .................................................................................. 15 Fish groupings ......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Generating island-scale estimates from the stratified design .................................................................................... 16 U.S. Pacific reefs: the status of reef fish ........................................................................................................................ 18 Consumer groups .................................................................................................................................................... 18 Size classes ............................................................................................................................................................... 19 Island status and trends .............................................................................................................................................. 21 American Samoa ........................................................................................................................................................ 22 Ofu and Olosega Islands ......................................................................................................................................... 22 Rose Atoll ............................................................................................................................................................... 23 Swains Island .......................................................................................................................................................... 24 Taˋū Island ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Tutuila and Aunuˋu Islands .................................................................................................................................... 26 Main Hawaiian Islands ............................................................................................................................................... 27 Hawai`i Island ........................................................................................................................................................ 27 5 Kauaˋi Island .......................................................................................................................................................... 28 Lānaˋi Island ........................................................................................................................................................... 29 Maui Island ............................................................................................................................................................ 30 Molokaˋi Island ....................................................................................................................................................... 31 Niˋihau Island ......................................................................................................................................................... 32 Oˋahu Island ........................................................................................................................................................... 33 Pacific Remote Island Areas ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Baker Island ............................................................................................................................................................ 34 Howland Island ...................................................................................................................................................... 35 Jarvis Island ............................................................................................................................................................ 36 Johnston Atoll ........................................................................................................................................................ 37 Kingman Reef ......................................................................................................................................................... 38 Palmyra Atoll .......................................................................................................................................................... 39 Wake Atoll.............................................................................................................................................................. 40 Publications, information products, and data requests 2012–2013 .............................................................................. 41 References ................................................................................................................................................................. 43 Appendices ...............................................................................................................................................................