Relative abundance of select reef fishes from Southeast Reef Fish Survey video data, 2011–2023

Reef fish species along the southeast United States Atlantic coast (hereafter, SEUS) have been monitored by the Marine Resources Monitoring, Assessment, and Prediction program (MARMAP) and the Southeast Reef Fish Survey (SERFS) with chevron traps since 1990. These trap data have been central components of the stock assessments of many various fish species in the SEUS, and trap indices for a number of species have been summarized annually by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (e.g., Vecchio et al. 2024). Beginning in 2011, video cameras were attached to all traps deployed region-wide by SERFS to provide additional information about reef fish relative abundance and seafloor habitat. The goal of this report is to provide video-based indices of abundance for many reef fish species in the SEUS, which complements the summary of trap-based indices of abundance of Vecchio et al. (2024).