Survey Questionnaire

Awareness and application of long-term monitoring data in the Pacific Islands
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

Hi,
The Ecosystem Science Division (ESD) of the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC),
with the funding from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, is conducting a survey to
better understand long-term socioeconomic monitoring needs to improve fisheries, coastal and
marine management that benefits human well-being. We are particularly interested in your
awareness and use of socioeconomic and biophysical data that is currently collected, the links
you see between them, and your thoughts on additional information that should be collected in
the future. The results will help us understand the use of the data and the gaps and make
recommendations on the types of data to be collected in the future monitoring.
You have been selected to participate in this survey as you are a possible user of the long-term
monitoring data or as you are involved in the efforts of collecting the socioeconomic and
biophysical data. Your participation is voluntary, and the information you provide will be kept
strictly anonymous. No personally identifiable information (name, affiliation, telephone
number, email address) will be linked to your completed survey. The information collected will
be viewed only by the NOAA research team compiling the data, and will be destroyed at the
end of the information collection process. This process will maintain the anonymity of the
responses received. Results will be aggregated, so that no responses can be attributable to
individuals.
Thank you for taking the time to assist us with this effort.
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per
response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other suggestions for
reducing this burden to Supin Wongbusarakum, Ecosystem Sciences Division, Pacific Islands
Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1845 Wasp
Boulevard, Building 176, Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, [email protected].
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall
any person be subjected to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information
subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of
information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.

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Privacy Act Statement
Authority: The collection of this information is authorized under the Coral Reef Conservation
Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-562; 16 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.
Purpose: NOAA proposes to conduct a survey and focus groups. The information gathered will
help inform partners in coastal and marine resource management and conservation about the
types of data that are important for their monitoring programs, that can help fill data gaps, and
that can improve integrated monitoring.
NOAA Routine Uses: NOAA will use this information to generate information that will help
ensure that monitoring programs are designed appropriately with useful indicators and are
effectively implemented, and that will help bring about conditions that are optimized for users
to apply data effectively in their work and to better integrate biophysical and socioeconomic
monitoring in ecosystem approaches for fisheries, coastal and marine management. Disclosure
of this information is permitted under the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. Section 552a) to be
shared among NOAA staff for work-related purposes. Disclosure of this information is also
subject to all of the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records
Notice Commerce/NOAA-11, Contact Information for Members of the Public Requesting or
Providing Information Related to NOAA’s Mission.
Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary; however, failure to participate in the
survey or a focus group will provide less information for use in this endeavor.

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Part 1: All respondents
1. What are your title, program (division) and office (organization or agency)?
Title: ________________________________________________________
Program: _____________________________________________________
Office: _______________________________________________________
2. What is your highest level of education?
☐ High school
☐ Community college
☐ Undergraduate
☐ Graduate (master)
☐ Graduate (PhD)
☐ Others, please specify _______________________________
3. What is your main type of work? Please check all that applies.
☐ Biophysical research or monitoring
☐ Field work/field station for biophysical research
☐ Socioeconomic research or monitoring
☐ Fisheries management
☐ Coastal/habitat management
☐ Making rules and regulations on resource use
☐ Endangered species
☐ Communications and outreach
☐ Administration
☐ Teaching and training
☐ Managing a student lab
☐ Others, please specify _______________________________
4. What would you say are your top 2 areas of expertise and how many years have you
worked in each of these 2 areas?
4.1 First area of expertise____________________________________
Years _____
4.2 Second area of expertise __________________________________
Years _____
5. From the following list of data currently collected by long-term monitoring programs,
please tell us:
a) whether you are aware of their availability
b) how important you think the data types are to inform management (regardless of
availability or use of these data for your own work)?
c) whether you have ever used these data types for management decisions

Type of data (if you would like to see examples
of each data type, please see attached appendix)

a) Are you
aware of
the data
availability

b) How important do
you think the data types
are to inform
management?
Please rate from 0 to 10

C) Have you
ever used
these data
types for
management
decisions

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Yes

No

0 = not important at all,
5 = moderately
important;
10 = very important.
Use n/a for “cannot
assess”

(not
applicable
for data you
only collect)

Rate 0 to 10, or n/a

Yes

No

Sociocultural and economic data
1. Demographics, incl fishers, vulnerable
populations, and general communities
2. Community well-being, including health
3. Personal disruption
4. Housing
5. Labor force
6. Physical infrastructure and coastal
development
7. Resource governance and institution
8. Attitudes towards management
9. Understanding of environmental regulations
10. Attitudes towards enforcement
11. Awareness of and attitude towards marine
protected areas
12. Participation in resource stewardship
13. Participation in fishing activities in Hawaii
and jurisdictions (AS, GU, CNMI), (including
gear, effort and catch)
14. Fisher classification
15. Proportion of population being reliant on
commercial and recreational fisheries
16. Commercial fisheries economic data
(cost/expenses and revenue) and impact
assessment
17. Recreational fisheries economic data and
Assessment
18. Seafood industry economic trends and
impacts, incl. fish trade (dealer, amount and
value of fish sold)
19. Fishers’ participation in seafood markets
20. Perceived fishing conditions
21. Socio-cultural importance of fishing
22. Current livelihoods of communities
23. Livelihood sustainability, (occupational)
diversity and flexibility

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24. Resource dependency for ecosystem services
(including livelihoods, e.g. commercial and
subsisting fisheries)
25. Participation in marine non-fishing activities,
incl tourism
26. Economic impact of dive/snorkel tourism to
jurisdiction
27. (Equitable) access to resources/assets
28. Ability to decide and act in order to create
change
29. Value/importance of marine and coastal
species and resources by the communities
30. Perceived conditions of natural resource
31. Awareness and knowledge of marine and
coastal resources
32. Perceived threats to natural resources
33. Perceived climate threats and natural hazard
risks to communities (particularly to fisheries)
34. Learning and knowledge to adapt to climate
change impacts
Biophysical data
35. Coral size structure
36. Coral condition
37. Benthic percent cover
38. Coral growth
39. Rugosity
40. Fish abundance
41. Fish size structure
42. Protected species
43. Macroinvertebrate key species
44. Sea level rise
45. Water temperature
46. Water chemistry
47. Light
48. Benthic accretion/bioerosion
49. Cryptobiota diversity
50. Meteorology (air temperature, wind speed,
wind direction, humidity, etc)
51. Large-scale climate forcing (El Niño/La Niña,
Pacific Decadal Oscillation)

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52. Physical oceanography
53. Microbial biodiversity
54. Marine debris
6. If you said you use any of the above data, could you describe in a few words your most
common uses?
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________

7. If there are data types in the table above you are aware of but never use, could you please
list the main reasons for not using them?
1. __________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________

8. The following list show types of socioeconomic and biophysical data that are suggested by
the literature and scientific experts as being potentially useful for management but to the
best of our knowledge are not currently collected. Could you please rate how important you
think each of these data types could be to inform management. Please use a scale of 1
through 10, with 0 being “not important at all”,
5 “moderately important”; and 10 “very important”. Use n/a for “cannot assess”.
Please rate from 0 to 10
0 = not important at all,
5 = moderately important;
10 = very important.
Use n/a for “cannot assess”
Sociocultural and economic data
1. Cultural heritage and connection to place
2. Sense of place and identity
3. Social relations and network
4. Community or local stewardship of resources
5. Existence value of resources (including nature as
being a source of inspiration, creativity, and
aesthetics)
6. Spiritual connection to nature and species
7. Gender issues (division of resource use,
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management, and gender equity)
Biophysical data
8. Reproduction or fecundity of organisms
9. Recruitment or connectivity of organisms
10. Mortality of organisms
11. Metabolic performance of organisms
12. Land-based sources of pollution, water quality,
sedimentation, nutrient inputs
13. Other measures of habitat/structural complexity
14. In situ measurements of light (e.g., irradiance of
photosynthetically active radiation [PAR])

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Part 2:
9. Please select only one of the following areas that your work has been most relevant to:
☐ Biophysical monitoring and research
☐ Sociocultural and/or economic monitoring and research
☐ Resource management, regulations, communications and outreach, administration,
and all others
Section B: Questions for those involved in biophysical monitoring and research
10.1 What are your main roles in monitoring? Please check all that applies.
☐ Obtain funding, including proposal development
☐ Establish monitoring design
☐ Lead monitoring program
☐ Lead field data collection
☐ Collect data in the field
☐ Analyze data
☐ Report or communicate data to possible users
☐ Other, please specify ___________________________________
10.2 What is the goal or purpose of your biophysical monitoring?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
From a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not at all, 5 being moderate, to 10 being very high, please
answer the following:
10.3 How useful in general do you think the existing types of biophysical data collected by
long-term monitoring programs are for informing management decisions?
0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
10.4 To what extent do you think the existing data from long-term biophysical monitoring
programs you are involved with have been used for management decisions?
0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
10.5 What is the level of community engagement that you incorporate into your work?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
10.6 What is the extent to which your work is collaborative with natural scientists in
different fields?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high

8

10.7 What is the extent to which your work is collaborative with social scientists?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
10.8 What is the extent to which your work is collaborative with resource managers?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
10.9 What are the top 5 types of biophysical data that you think would be most useful for
sociocultural and economic monitoring? Please list in order of importance.
1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
4. _________________________________
5. _________________________________

10.10 What are the top 5 types of sociocultural and economic data that you think would be
most useful to complement your biophysical monitoring? Please list in order of importance.

1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. ________________________________
4. _________________________________
5. _________________________________

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Section C: Questions for those involved in sociocultural and/or economic monitoring and
research
11.1 What is your main role in monitoring? (check all that applies)
☐ Obtain funding, including proposal development
☐ Establish monitoring design
☐ Lead monitoring program
☐ Lead field data collection
☐ Collect data in the field
☐ Analyze data
☐ Report or communicate data to possible users
☐ Others, please specify ___________________________________
11.2 What is the goal or purpose of your sociocultural and/or economic monitoring?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
From a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not at all, 5 being moderate, to 10 being very high, please
answer the following:
11.3 How useful do you think the existing types of socioeconomic data collected by long-term
monitoring programs are in general for informing management decisions?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
11.4 To what extent do you think the existing data from long-term biophysical monitoring
programs you are involved with have been used for management decisions?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
11.5 What is the level of community engagement that you incorporate into your work?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
11.6 What is the extent to which your work is collaborative with social scientists in different
disciplines?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
11.7 What is the extent to which your work is collaborative with natural scientists?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
11.8 What is the extent to which your work is collaborative with resource managers?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high

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what are the top 5 types of sociocultural and economic data that you think would be most
useful for biophysical monitoring? Please list in order of importance.
1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
4. _________________________________
5. _________________________________
11.9 What are the top 5 types of biophysical data that do you think would be most useful to
complement your sociocultural and economic monitoring? Please list in order of importance.
1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
4. _________________________________
5. _________________________________

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Section D. Questions for those involved in management and all other types of work except
biophysical, sociocultural, and economic monitoring
From a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being not at all, 5 being moderate, to 10 being very high, please
answer the following:
12.1 How useful do you think the existing types of biophysical data collected by long-term
monitoring programs are for informing management decisions?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
12.2 How useful do you think the existing types of socioeconomic data collected by long-term
monitoring programs are for informing management decisions?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
12.3 What is the extent do you think biophysical data can be improved to better inform
management decisions?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high

n/a
Don’t know

12.4 What is the extent do you think sociocultural and economic data can be better improved to
inform management decisions?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
n/a
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
Don’t know
12.5 What is the extent you have worked directly with people who design or implement longterm biophysical monitoring?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
12.6 What is the extent you have worked directly with people who design or implement longterm sociocultural and economic monitoring?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
12.7 What is the level of community engagement that you incorporate into your work?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
12.8 How important do you think about the monitoring teams working across social and natural
scientific disciplines and collaborating with one another?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high

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12.9 What is the level of your interest in working with the monitoring teams to make sure that
the data produced meet your management needs?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high
12.7 What is the level of difficultly in combining biophysical and socioeconomic data in ways
that are informative for management decisions?"
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Not at all
Moderate
Very high

12.8 What are the data types do you find most useful for your work?
1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
4. _________________________________
5. _________________________________
12.9 Are there any missing data that would be useful in better managing resources and address
human well-being simultaneously. If yes, what would be the top 3 most important ones?
1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________

12.10 If there are comments you would like to make, please share them below.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

End of the survey
Thank you very much for your participation!

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