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.

The Marine Mammal Surveys Mapping Application feature service provides access to data collected in the Mariana Archipelago by the Protected Species Division of the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center. Included are 2010-2014 cetacean survey tracklines, species sighted, locations where biopsy samples were collected and locations for satellite tag deployments.

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.

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. Surveys of Marine Protected Areas have been conducted periodically in the Gulf of Mexico since 1978. Information has been provided on reef fish abundance and distribution, life history, bathymetry mapping and habitat characterization.

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).

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. The reef fish survey is conducted primarily on the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico along topographic features (e.g. reefs, banks and ledges) between Brownsville, TX to the Dry Tortugas, FL. A two-stage sampling design is used with the first stage or primary sampling units being blocks 10 minutes of latitude by 10 minutes of longitude and the second stage being randomly selected sites within the blocks. The first-stage units are selected by stratified random sampling, with stratum boundaries defined by geographic region (4 regions: South Florida, Northeast Gulf, Louisiana-Texas Shelf, and South Texas), and by reef habitat area (Blocks < 20 km² reef, Blocks > 20 km² reef). Sampling is conducted using a video camera array, vertical line gear and chevron traps with approximately 400 video cameras, 400 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 soak 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. 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).

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. Environmental profiles are acquired during all surveys and are averaged into one meter depth bins. The data are acquired with Sea-Bird SBE25 and SBE9 profilers equipped with water temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, beam transmittance, and fluorescence sensors. These are raw data that are unprocessed.

This data service represents a subset of fisheries research carried out by the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) in the Mariana Archipelago. Specific datasets included are from the Resource Assessment Investigation of the Mariana Archipelago (RAIOMA) from 1980-1985. Data types included in this REST service include bottomfish fishing transects and shrimp trap deployment locations, catch tables containing records for each of the locations/transects, and summary level products such as catch per unit effort (CPUE) and Total Yield.

The Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring GIS data service provides access to data collected in the Mariana Archipelago by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Program of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. Included are a subset of the data collected and processed in the Marianas archipelago between 2000 and 2014.

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. The reef fish survey of Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps MPA is conducted primarily on the along topographic features (e.g. reefs, banks and ledges) of the MPA. A two-stage sampling design is used with the first stage or primary sampling units defined by geographic/geoform strata including ridges, pinnacles, rubble and sand flats and the second stage being randomly selected sites within the geoform strata. Sampling is conducted using a video camera array. No biological sampling is coupled with the survey because of the areas status as an MPA. 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 soak for 35 minutes. Habitat mapping was conducted using a multibeam echosounder by USGS. At each site hydrological data is collected using Conductivity Temperature Depth sensor (CTD).