A State/Federal Collaborative Reef Fish Video Survey in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico – History, Methods, Challenges, and Successes

Since 2005, NMFS – Pascagoula, NMFS – Panama City, and the state of Florida have conducted a cooperative survey of reef fishes along Florida’s Gulf coast utilizing stationary stereo and video cameras. Although each survey was initially developed to meet different objectives and covers a different area of the West Florida Shelf, all three surveys utilize a two-stage random sampling design with proportional allocation and stratification to ensure representative geographic and bathymetric coverage. Each survey uses similar baited stereo-video cameras, and annual workshops and video exchanges have facilitated standardization and compatibility of gear, methods, video processing, and data quality. Despite several key challenges unique to the region (e.g., limited funding, poor visibility, lack of habitat data to stratify sampling), these surveys have effectively characterized reef-fish assemblages, and for the first time in 2014, data from all three surveys were combined to calculate a relative index of Red Grouper abundance for the eastern Gulf of Mexico. We will discuss lessons learned through more than a decade of collaborate research, and highlight plans to improve the quality and accuracy of data used to assess and manage the reef fishes that support a multi-billion dollar fishery in the region.