California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations

Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sio.ucsd.edu)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers for ocean and earth science research, education, and public service in the world. Research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography encompasses physical, chemical, biological, geological, and geophysical studies of the oceans and earth.

Southwest Fisheries Science Center (swfsc.noaa.gov)

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) contributes to the CalCOFI partnership in three major areas: 1) CalCOFI sea surveys, 2) scientific research on the fisheries, ecology, and oceanography of the California Current system, and 3) communication of the results of the CalCOFI  surveys and related laboratory research to the scientific community, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council

California Department of Fish & Game, Marine Region (www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/)

OUR MISSION: "To protect, maintain, enhance, and restore California's marine ecosystems for their ecological values and their use and enjoyment by the public."

The Marine Region is responsible for protecting and managing California's marine resources under the authority of laws and regulations created by the State Legislature, the Fish and Game Commission, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The Marine Region was established in November 1997, as an outgrowth of planning actions taken by the Department of Fish and Game in the mid-1990s to increase its effectiveness. A task force, which convened in 1997, developed recommendations for the establishment of a new Marine Region.

Long Term Ecological Research Network CalCOFI Site (cce.lternet.edu)

The California Current System is a coastal upwelling biome, as found along the eastern margins of all major ocean basins. These are among the most productive ecosystems in the world ocean. The California Current Ecosystem LTER (32.9°, -120.3°) is investigating nonlinear transitions in the California Current coastal pelagic ecosystem, with particular attention to long-term forcing by a secular warming trend, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and El Niño in altering the structure and dynamics of the pelagic ecosystem. The California Current sustains active fisheries for a variety of finfish and marine invertebrates, modulates weather patterns and the hydrologic cycle of much of the western United States, and plays a vital role in the economy of myriad coastal communities.

Scripps Whale Acoustics Lab (cetus.ucsd.edu)
Since April 2004, the Scripps Whale Acoustics Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography added a visual and acoustic marine mammal survey component to the CalCOFI project to study cetacean ecology and habitat. Visual monitoring is conducted during quarterly cruises by Cascadia Research personnel using handheld 7x binoculars. Supplementary Bigeyes (25x magnification) are used for species identification when necessary. Visual monitoring provides excellent data for highly visible species in calm to moderate weather. Concurrently, acoustic technicians survey with a towed hydrophone array during the transit between CalCOFI stations and with sonobuoys while on station, allowing collection of distribution data on vocal animals that may have been missed visually due to darkness, rough weather, distance from transect line, being underwater, or other reasons.

CalCOFI Bird & Marine Mammal Consortium (www.ccmbm.org)

Newly formed in 2009, this consortium will guide, oversee, and manage continued observations of marine bird and mammal distributions from California Cooperative of Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) cruises.