This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Survey. NOAA’s portion of California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) started in 1949 and is led by NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey is managed by the Fisheries Oceanography Program, composed of the Ichthyoplankton Ecology and Ship Operations groups. These groups work to contribute to the understanding of the effects of climate change and climate variability on pelagic fisheries. Alongside informing management decisions and publishing long-term datasets, the fisheries oceanography program also tracks long-term trends in key habitat variables, assesses stock-recruit and temperature-recruitment relationships for sardine assessments and updates environmental indices. The ship operations group averages 100-120 days at sea annually. Approximately 80 percent of that time is dedicated to the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations program collecting data through cruises. Surveys collect biological data via trawls, acoustic monitoring, and plankton sampling.

This database contains ichthyoplankton data collected as part of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program and other cruises that were designed to assess the status coastal pelagic species and the California Current ecosystem from 1951 to present. The primary data are eggs and larvae captured in ring or bongo nets (oblique tows), Calvet or pairovet nets (vertical tows), and manta nets (surface tows).

This data set contains catch and effort, landings, and observer data from longline vessels fishing in the North Pacific outside the U.S. west coast EEZ. Logbooks and landings data are available from 1991 to the present and observer data is available from 2001 to present. California-based longliners target swordfish and bigeye tunas, however, other species of tunas, billfishes, and sharks are also caught.

This layer is intended to represent the geographic extent of NOAA Fisheries’ Southern California Shelf Rockfish Hook and Line Survey. The Southern California Shelf Rockfish Hook and Line Survey started in 2003 and is led by NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey samples ecologically and economically important shelf rockfish species over untrawlable habitats in the Southern California Bight. The survey is a cooperative effort between NOAA Fisheries, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Southern California sportfishing industry to develop fishery-independent time series of abundance and biological data for use in stock assessments for tens of groundfish species in the region. NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center partners with the sportfishing fleet to sample over 200 locations annually. Survey biologists collect information about the abundance, biology, ecology, and genetics of species to support research into cryptic species, population structure, and eDNA applications. Oceanographic data profiles are also generated for each site visited.

The California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI)

From 2007-2016, CA Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP) scientists and fishermen have conducted hook-and-line surveys within three Central Coast State Marine Reserves (Point Lobos, Piedras Blancas (2008 only), and Point Buchon, SMRs) and a State Marine Conservation Area (Año Nuevo, SMCA), along with nearby reference sites (Figure 1). The Año Nuevo, Point Lobos, Piedras Blancas, and Point Buchon MPAs encompass areas of 10.2 mi2, 5.4 mi2, 10.4 mi2, and 6.7 mi2 respectively. Reference sites were based on the criteria that they shared similar size, habitat, and oceanographic conditions with the nearby MPAs. Within the boundaries of each MPA and reference site, 500 m x 500 m grid cells were created and used to randomly select sampling locations. The grid cells were positioned in nearshore rocky habitats, in water less than 40 meters deep (to limit fishing mortality from barotrauma), in areas that had been identified by fishermen as having suitable habitat for nearshore fishes. A total of 22 grid cells in Año Nuevo, 17 cells in Point Lobos, 57 cells in Piedras Blancas, and 22 cells in Point Buchon were generated (Figure 2). On a given survey day, four of these cells were selected at random and sampled. In 2008 and 2009, surveys were also completed in (then) proposed North Central Coast SMRs (Point Reyes, and North and Southeast Farallon Islands) and near Bolinas/ Duxbury Reef. These surveys utilized the CCFRP hook-and-line survey protocols with the exception that sampling was not completed within 500m x 500m grid cells. These trips provided an opportunity to evaluate the areas in order to locate optimal fishing areas and create grid cells for future surveys. Duxbury Reef, an open area, will serve as a project reference area because this area has been surveyed since 2005.

Goal 1: Improve understanding of salmon ocean ecology by integrating stock-specific distribution patterns over space and time with biological and environmental data. Goal 2: Integrate multiple disciplines to develop and apply new scientific technology to improve fisheries management strategies across geo-political boundaries. Goal 3: Improve economic opportunities for fishermen and coastal communities. The Oregon Salmon Commission, California Salmon Council, and Washington Trollers Association lead the Collaboration. Partners include Oregon Sea Grant, Community Seafood Initiative, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, University of California Santa Cruz, Oregon State University, Oregon and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife, California and Idaho Departments of Fish and Game, National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest, and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers. Fishermen sample Chinook salmon at sea. Genetic Stock Identification (GSI) analysis is used to determine stock of origin. Scales are examined to determine age, and other biological and physical data are taken. The purpose is to develop Fishery information system with multiple goals. The target audience is the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) Management, as well as fishermen, scientists, marketers, educators, and the general public. This is a stand-alone project, with one principal point of contact in NMFS. This project is ongoing. Chinook genetics for stock identification.

This layer is intended to represent information collected during NOAA Fisheries’ California Current Ecosystem Survey. The California Current Ecosystem Survey started in 2006 and is led by NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This survey monitors West Coast coastal pelagic fish species (CPS) including the northern and central sub-populations of Northern Anchovy, the northern subpopulation of Pacific Sardine, Jack Mackerel, Pacific Mackerel, Pacific Herring, their prey items, and the biotic and abiotic environments of the California Current Ecosystem. These data are used to estimate the distribution, biomass, and demographics of species of interest to inform stock assessments. The CCES survey typically occurs annually between July and September on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada, with a recent expansion into Mexico thanks to a collaboration with the Instituto Mexicano Investigación en Pesca y Acuacultura Sustentables (IMIPAS, formerly INAPESCA). During the day multifrequency, scientific echosounders, a continuous underway fish egg sampler (CUFES), and an underway conductivity-temperature-depth (UCTD) probe are all used to collect data. At night, surface trawls are conducted in locations where coastal pelagic species were observed acoustically during the day. The trawls serve to estimate the species composition and demographics of the fishes sampled acoustically during the day. In recent years, sampling from NOAA ships has been augmented with acoustic sampling by unmanned surface vehicles (Saildrone USVs), and with acoustic and purse-seine sampling from industry fishing vessels off WA, OR, and CA. The sampling from fishing vessels expands the survey into areas that are inhabited by CPS but are too shallow for the NOAA ships to safely navigate.

This data set contains the logbook data from U.S.A. Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels (CPFV) fishing in the U.S.A. EEZ and in waters off of Baja California, from 1980 to present. These fishing vessels carry sport fishermen and target both HMS and non-HMS species. California CPFV operators submit mandatory logbooks to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). CPFV operators in Washington and Oregon that target albacore submit mandatory logbooks to SWFSC since the implementation of the HMS Fisheries Management Plan in 2005. Logbook data contain information on locations fished, ports of landing, number of anglers, hours fished, species, number of fish kept, and interactions with marine mammals.

This geodatabase contains spatial data for NOAA's West Coast Region (WCR) Groundfish Conservation Areas (GCA). GCA's are conservation areas created or modified and enforced to control catch of groundfish or protected species (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/chapter-VI/part-660/subpart-C/section-660.11).The geodatabase contains the following feature datasets, each containing feature classes that depict the spatial representation of a GCA:YRCA - Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation AreasGEA -Groundfish Exclusion AreasCCA - Cowcod Conservation AreasRCA - Rockfish Conservation AreasWithin each feature dataset, the feature class naming convention reflects the 1) type of area (YRCA, GEA, CCA, or RCA), 2) the name of the area and 3) the date (YYYYMMDD) that the conservation area was published in the Federal Register (FR). For example GEA_Potato_Bank_20231201Version 1 Last Update: 12/2024