California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations

Data Usage and Distribution Policy

CalCOFI hydrographic and plankton data are distributed to the community for use without restriction. Unless otherwise noted, these data can be considered to be final data which have been evaluated using CalCOFI data quality control procedures. Methods for data collection and processing are summarized incruise Data Reports introduction. To see the methods used on specific cruises, see the Data Report pdf page. Preliminary data from recent cruises for which the data processing is not complete can generally be made available to those programs for which there is an operational need. Refer to the Contacts page for addressing such requests. We ask that these preliminary data not be published or redistributed.

Acknowledgements

CalCOFI research is supported by contributions from the participating agencies: The California State Department of Fish and Game, NOAA,National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and the University of California,Integrative Oceanography Division at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.

The California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) are a unique partnership of the California Department of Fish and Game, NOAA Fisheries Service and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The organization was formed in 1949 to study the ecological aspects of the sardine population collapse off California. Today our focus has shifted to the study of the marine environment off the coast of California, the management of its living resources, and monitoring the indicators of El Nino and climate change. CalCOFI conducts quarterly cruises off southern & central California, collecting a suite of hydrographic and biological data on station and underway.  Data collected at depths down to 500 m include: temperature, salinity, oxygen, phosphate, silicate, nitrate and nitrite, chlorophyll, transmissometer, PAR, C14 primary productivity, phytoplankton biodiversity, zooplankton biomass, and zooplankton biodiversity.

	Scripps Institution of Oceanography CalCOFI Group, Integrative Oceanography Division CCE-LTER - Long-Term Ecological Research Network Marine Mammals Acoustics Group, MPL		California Department of Fish & Game Marine Region
	NOAA - National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center SWFSC		CCE-LTER: California Current Ecosystem CCE-LTER at SIO LTER Network
See our Affilates page for more information and other contributors.

• The California Cooperative Sardine Research Program was originally designed as a joint effort by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the California Academy of Sciences to study the behavior and environmental conditions that effected sardine populations off Southern California after the collapse of the sardine fisheries in the late 1940s.
  • California Cooperative Sardine Research Program Progress Report, 1950
  • History of CalCOFI SWFSC page

• Currently, the program combines the efforts and funding of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the California Department of Fish and Game, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and CCE-LTER. Quarterly cruises collect hydrographic and biological data from the 75 station pattern and the 113 station pattern.

CalCOFI Timeline 1945 - 1999 (from SIO Explorations Magazine; combined timeline image)