The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) staff conducted shore-based creel surveys which have 2 major sub-surveys; one to estimate participation (fishing effort), and one to provide catch-rate (CPUE), species composition data, and size of fishes. As is the case for all of these shore-based surveys, shore-based means fishing without a powered boat and can include effort such as spearfishing. DFW made early attempts at shore-based creel surveying back in the early years, but many problems existed and there were limited resources available. It is not likely that the older data was converted from the Apple to the PC environment, but this needs to be checked. A new survey design was created and implemented in about 2005 and is continuing. It has mostly focused on the west coast lagoon side of Saipan but recently has been extended to the south and part of the west coast where some shoreline areas are accessible as well. These data are considered confidential.

Boat-based creel survey data have been collected and processed by the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) staff since about 1982 and are continuing. Creel surveys consist of 2 major sub-surveys, one to identify the level of fishing participation for each fishing method used in the Territory, and one to determine the catch rate, species composition, and sizes of fish (and invertebrates) for each fishing method and fishing sector. The most structured and consistent surveys have been conducted on the main island of Tutuila and there are also some less robust data for the Manu'a islands. Boat-based surveys are access-point surveys and include all major and some minor ports and marinas where fishing boats launch or are berthed. Fishing areas are limited to the areas around American Samoa as boats included in these surveys are generally less than about 40 feet.

Similar in basic design to other shore-based creel surveys in the region, the Guam survey has been ongoing since the early 1980s and is continuing today. Creel surveys have 2 major sub-surveys; one to estimate participation (fishing effort), and one to provide catch-rate (CPUE), species composition data, and size of fishes. One unique feature about this survey is that it has an aerial survey component which obtains near-shore, non-boat based fishing effort for areas not covered by the Creel survey routes surveyed from vehicles driving along shoreline roads collecting the participation and interview data. Aerial survey data are used to create adjustment factors to estimate the amount of fishing effort and catch made in areas too remote or not accessible by road to surveyors (e.g. too far off the main roads on remote beaches and cliffs, or on military bases). These data are considered confidential.

The DMWR staff has also conducted shore-based creel surveys which also have 2 major sub-surveys; one to estimate participation (fishing effort), and one to provide catch-rate, species composition, and size frequency data. The amount of area covered by the surveys has varied over the years from just a central part of Tutuila to 3 separate routes on Tutuila plus sampling on the Manu'a Islands of Ofu-Olesega and Ta'u. There was a break in survey coverage for a number of years due to resource limitations, but surveys on Tutuila have been conducted again since about 2001. There has been some break in coverage over the years due to various hurricanes and a major tsunami, but generally speaking the surveys have been conducted routinely and in a fairly standardized manner. Not all areas of the islands are covered due to resource limitations. These data are considered confidential.

Similar to other boat-based survey in basic design, this system is run by the Div. of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR) and has been in operation since about 1982 (actually before that, but not in a standard structure and we haven't rescued those earlier data) and continues as a major fisheries monitoring tool by DAWR. Creel surveys consist of 2 major sub-surveys, one to identify the level of fishing participation for each fishing method used in the Territory, and one to determine the catch rate, species composition, and sizes of fish (and invertebrates) for each fishing method and fishing sector. This covers participation counts at all ports and Creel interviewing and census counting on sample days for the 3 most used ports on Guam. All surveys and data collection on Guam are voluntary and fisher levels of compliance and buy-in to the surveys has varied over the years, especially near management events such as creation of near-shore MPAs, etc. Data collection is similar to other surveys. These data are considered confidential.

The Expendable Bathythermographs (XBTs) measure the temperature of the water column with depth.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized fisheries independent resource surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean to provide abundance and distribution information to support regional and international stock assessments. A standardized reef fish survey is conducted in the U.S. Caribbean every 2nd or 3rd year with the objective of determining the relative abundance of reef fish on the shelf waters of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This survey uses video cameras, fish traps and vertical line gear, with approximately 200 video cameras, 200 vertical line and 100 traps conducted. The camera array consists of four housings positioned orthogonally and center mounted at a height of 51 cm above the bottom of the array. Each housing contains a pair of black-and-white Videre stereo cameras along with a color mpeg camera. Sampling of reef sites with video cameras occurs only during daylight hours, with the first gear deployment one hour after sunrise and the last gear retrieval one hour prior to sunset. Video arrays are soaked for 35 minutes. At sites selected for fish sampling, a chevron (or arrow) fish trap or vertical line is used to capture fish for biological samples. The chevron fish trap is constructed with 1.5-inch vinyl-clad mesh. In its greatest dimensions, the trap is 1.76 m in length, 1.52 m in width and 0.61 m in depth. A 0.4 m by 0.29 m blow out panel is placed on one side and kept closed using 7-day magnesium releases. The fish trap soaks for one hour and is baited with squid. The vertical line consists of a mainline with 10 gangions attached that is either deployed or attached to the vessel. One 8/0, 11/0 or 15/0 circle hook is attached to each gangion and baited with mackerel (Scomber scombrus). The mainline is soaked for five minutes. Most of the animals captured are measured, weighed, tagged and then released. Those individuals which are moribund or have expired are retained to collect biological data pertaining to the life history of these fishes. Habitat mapping is conducted using the SIMRAD ME70 multibeam echosounder. At each site hydrological data is collected using Conductivity Temperature Depth sensor (CTD).

This PIFSC Research Cruises feature service provides access to ship tracklines associated with Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center research cruises in the Mariana Archipelago. Included are cruises carried out onboard NOAA Ships Oscar Sette and Hi'ialakai during 2003-2014.

These data sets are a compilation of large vessel surveys for marine mammal stock assessments in Caribbean waters conducted during 2000-2001. These surveys were designed as line-transect surveys with data collection through both visual methods and passive acoustic tools. Visual survey data were collected following standard protocols and are intended for analysis using the line-transect Distance method to provide estimates of abundance for marine mammal stocks within the survey area. Each survey includes a collection of data sets including visual survey data (survey effort and sightings of marine mammals and other species), passive and active acoustics data, sample collection information, and physical oceanographic data.

Episodic cruises ( every 2 years) were conducted to perform assessments of Navassa Island coral reef resources including reeffish visual census, benthic reef community characterization, and targeted assessments of acute coral disease or bleaching events (when encountered).