The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAAs National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The Office of National Marine Sanctuary Program (ONMS) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, ONMS and NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAA?s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The Office of National Marine Sanctuary (ONMS) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, ONMS and NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAA?s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

The National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, NMSP and NOAAs National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

Fish benthic trawls were completed by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Data from 425 fisheries independent trawls ranging from 2-215 meters depth were collected in 1994 and 1998 during the months of June-August. Fish that were not present in at least 5% of the trawls were removed from this analysis. The data set contained information for 150 fish species, but removal of rare species resulted in 48 species. Site groups were calculated using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient with average means clustering (Romesburg, 1991). Gear included a 7.6-m head-rope semi balloon otter trawl with 1.25 cm codend mesh trawled for 5-10 minutes at each station. For more information on trawl methods, see Allen et al. (1997), and Allen et al. (2003).

This dataset contains two known point locations of the elusive Fraser's dolphin identified through direct human observation via shipborne surveys in 2008 and 2012. Cascadia Research Collective (CRC) has been undertaking surveys for odontocetes in Hawaiian waters since 2000. For further information, please see: http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/hawaiian-cetacean-studies/frasers-dolphins-hawaii

To support NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) long-term goals for sustainable management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems, towed-diver surveys (AKA towboard surveys) are conducted by the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) of the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) as part of Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (RAMP) Cruises. 21 towboard surveys (totaling 43.23 km in length) were conducted at Johnston in Pacific Remote Island Areas from 2010-01-21 to 2010-04-24 as part of RAMP Cruise HA1001. Towboard surveys are a good method for obtaining a general description of large reef areas, assessing the status of low-density populations of large-bodied reef fish, large-scale disturbances (e.g., bleaching), general distribution and abundance patterns of macro-invertebrates (e.g., crown of thorns sea stars, giant clams), and for assessing trends in these populations and metrics. A pair of scuba divers (1 fish diver and 1 benthic diver) are towed 60 m behind a small survey launch at a speed of 1-2 knots and a depth of approximately 15 m. Each survey is 50 min long, covers about 2 km of habitat, and is divided into ten 5-minute survey segments. The fish diver records, to the lowest possible taxon, all large-bodied reef fishes (greater than 50 cm total length) seen within 5 m either side and 10 m in front of the towboard. Length of each individual is estimated to the nearest cm. The fish towboard is also outfitted with a forward-facing digital video camera to record the survey swath. The benthic diver records percent cover of coral and macroalgae, estimates benthic habitat type and complexity, and censuses a suite of benthic macroinvertebrates including crown of thorns sea stars and sea urchins. The benthic towboard is equipped with a downward-facing digital still camera which images the benthos at 15-second intervals. These images are analyzed for percent cover of coral, algae, and other benthic components. Both towboards are equipped with SEABIRD SBE-39 temperature/depth sensors set to record at 5-second intervals. Latitude and longitude of each survey track is recorded at 15-second intervals using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver onboard the tow boat. A layback algorithm is applied to more accurately map the position of the divers with respect to the reef environment. This algorithm calculates the position of the divers based on the position of the tow boat taking into account the length of the tow rope, the depth of the divers, and the curvature of the survey track. This metadata applies to the fish biomass observations.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuary Program (ONMS) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, ONMS and NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).