National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) Benthic Community Assessment Survey Field Protocols for U.S. Atlantic: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and 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 (USVI).