CalCOFI (California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations) is a long-term oceanographic and marine ecosystem monitoring and research program that surveys the physical, biogeochemical, and biological dynamics of the marine environment off the coast of California. It was formed in 1949 to study the ecological aspects of the collapse of the Pacific sardine fishery off California.
Overview
CalCOFI is a unique partnership between three founding organizations: NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (Southwest Fisheries Science Center), Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The program was established in response to a dramatic decline in the sardine catch—from approximately 440,000 tons in the 1930s to 70,000 tons by the 1970s—to investigate the causes of the fishery collapse.
Research and Data Collection
CalCOFI conducts quarterly research cruises off southern and central California, collecting data at depths down to 500 meters. Measurements include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients (phosphate, silicate, nitrate, nitrite), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), light transmission, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), primary productivity (C14), phytoplankton biomass and biodiversity, and zooplankton biomass and biodiversity. Additional data collected during transits include sea surface and meteorological measurements, ocean surface currents via Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), fish eggs using the Continuous Underway Fish Egg Sampler (CUFES), and visual surveys of marine mammals and seabirds.
Survey Grid
The standard CalCOFI survey grid includes six transect lines spaced approximately 40 nautical miles apart, with stations spaced 20 to 40 nautical miles along each line. Since 1984, the standard pattern has consisted of 75 stations (66 core stations plus 9 nearshore SCCOOS stations added in 2004). During winter and spring surveys, up to five additional northern transects are added, bringing the total to 104 or 113 stations.
Historical Significance
CalCOFI is recognized as one of the longest-running marine ecosystem monitoring programs in the world. The program is credited with popularizing the term "El Niño" after a 1958 CalCOFI meeting where scientists discovered that the climate pattern named in Peru affected the entire Pacific Ocean basin. The dataset has been instrumental in understanding climate variability, El Niño and La Niña events, and the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems.
Modern Applications
In 2004, CalCOFI became part of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network as the California Current Ecosystem (CCE-LTER) site. The program has expanded to include environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, which allows non-invasive characterization of marine communities, including detection of endangered species. CalCOFI data are publicly accessible and used for fisheries management, climate change research, ocean modeling, and conservation efforts.
