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CITATION King, J.R. 2014. Review of Regional Fisheries of the California Current System: The CalCOFI Program, by S. McClatchie. Oceanography 27(4):177–178, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2014.102.

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2014.102

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REGIONAL FISHERIES OF THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT SYSTEM: THE CALCOFI PROGRAM By Sam McClatchie, 2014, Springer, 235 pages, ISBN 978-94-007-7223-6, e-book: $149 US, Hardcover: $189 US

Reviewed by Jacquelynne R. King

and provide a window into past think- the biological oceanography, specifically, ing on scientific issues. Though review advection versus upwelling currents as books often present only a limited num- they relate to zooplankton. This section ber of figures, here there are numerous provides a useful overview of the rele- figures to support the text. And while this vant literature, with the right amount of book does provide a thorough synthesis explanation of their methods and results. of CalCOFI research, the author period- The later sections of this chapter provide he California Cooperative Oceanic ically balances it with his own personal considerable detail on the regional pro- TFisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) views on alternate hypotheses or suggests cesses affecting production; they are spe- program has been operating for over avenues for future analyses without being cific to central and southern California 60 years and is one of the longest run- overly intrusive or biased to the synthesis. and likely of interest to researchers work- ning fisheries oceanography survey pro- The CalCOFI program was initiated ing within those regions, but perhaps of grams in the world. CalCOFI has made in 1950 to investigate the decline of the limited interest to others. significant contributions to the knowl- Pacific sardine fishery. Chapter 1 provides Chapter 3 may be the shortest chap- edge of oceanographic processes in the a brief background on that fishery and a ter of the book, but perhaps it is the California Current System and made perspective on oppositional hypothe- most important. Over the course of the this ocean region one of the best stud- ses with regard to its collapse. This chap- CalCOFI program, the survey gear and ied systems in the world. How odd then ter contains a section on Commercial methodology for biological sampling have that a contemporary, comprehensive syn- Fisheries of California over the past changed. An integral part of CalCOFI has thesis of fisheries oceanography in this 90 years, providing the reader with use- been documenting those changes and region has been lacking until now. The ful historical landings of several pelagic conducting the required comparisons of book Regional Fisheries Oceanography species of commercial importance in gear and methods in order to develop of the California Current System by Sam waters off California. The final two sec- correction factors. This chapter places McClatchie completes the difficult task tions of this chapter are a nice amalgama- all of the information on gear types and of providing an integrative review and tion of the CalCOFI sampling design and sampling methods contained in numer- brings the reader up to date on relevant its unique numbering system for its tran- ous reports into one place. If you are a literature, from peer-reviewed journal sects and stations. Here, the reader will researcher that uses CalCOFI time series, papers, to technical reports, to “gray liter- also find an explanation of the temporal this chapter will be important for ensuring ature,” that might not otherwise be read- and spatial changes to survey coverage. that you are aware of the changes across ily available to readers. Chapter 2 concatenates historical the years. It is also useful background for This book is not for the casual reader: it CalCOFI survey data (such as from students or researchers who are designing is technical, and while the author attempts CTDs) with modern technology, includ- a sampling program: it offers information to balance explanatory with expert text, it ing Argo float and glider data, to pro- on the specifications of the current gear is not a book for a quick overview. But it is vide a physical oceanographic descrip- employed by CalCOFI. One of the pro- engaging—the writing style and integra- tion of the California Current along with gram’s legacies is the CalCOFI Atlases: tion of disciplines makes it a pleasure to its origin waters. Taken together, these 35 volumes published between 1963 and read. There are number of elements that data help to paint a more complex and 2002 on ichthyoplankton and zooplank- make it accessible. Each chapter begins varying picture of the California Current ton. This section serves as an introduc- with a suite of historical quotes from than a “broad, weak, equatorward flow,” tion to the atlases, with brief descriptions people involved with CalCOFI or from as it is typically characterized. A partic- of krill, chaetognaths, copepods, and ich- California Current studies; they are a nice ular highlight of Chapter 2 is the section thyoplankton. A nice concluding section way to set the stage for the chapter theme that links the physical oceanography to deals with how the ichthyoplankton time

Oceanography | December 2014 177 series generated by CalCOFI have been There are very few global examples program. This chapter is the jewel of the used to identify recurrent groups related of the operationalization of environ- book, and reading it was an absolute to regional and ENSO-driven differences mental factors into the provision of tac- pleasure. It brought the scientists to the in oceanography. tical advice for fisheries management. forefront, and reminds the reader that a Chapter 4 presents the multitude of Chapter 6 provides an outline of how world-class program such as CalCOFI is temporal-scale forcing concepts that have CalCOFI oceanographic and ichthyo- only successful because of its engaged, been developed to explain trends in phys- plankton time series have been incorpo- passionate, and determined scien- ical and biological time series. It is the rated into stock assessments for a number tists. The legacy of CalCOFI is not lim- only chapter where the author’s bias is of species, including sardine, anchovy, ited to its long-term data sets but must intrusive. The overview of regime shifts cowcod, boccacio, and Pacific mackerel. include the countless researchers who and climate indices is rather subjective, These examples are valuable to have, and have contributed to the program over which is perhaps fair to expect in a book one in particular, the case for sardine, the years. Technology makes data collec- of this type, but it would have been more provides an example of how the relation- tion such a different creature than it was refreshing to have a balanced account. ship of an environmental variable (here, when CalCOFI first started, and students These issues notwithstanding, the litera- sea surface temperature) to recruitment should understand and appreciate the ture provided is a good start toward net- can break down over time, and reliance efforts of those who came before them. working in order to build an understand- on these relationships without continu- I find it remarkable how many eventual ing of the climate indices and scales of ous revalidation can have major impacts CalCOFI researchers began as summer variability important to the California on the stock assessment process. and graduate students within the pro- Current System. This chapter is one from Chapter 7 may be the weakest chap- gram’s projects and labs. This speaks to which readers will need to build upon ter simply because it relies on a single ref- the long-standing role that CalCOFI has information provided in order to develop erence that places fisheries oceanogra- played in providing mentorship to young their own opinions regarding conflict- phy in California as the strong influence students and its provision of a vibrant ing hypotheses. The detailed account on the global development of the concept academic environment. This is not to say of major El Niño and La Niña impacts of ecosystem-based management (EBM). that the researchers were infallible; there on regional oceanography and biota of Though I can see the reasoning for incor- are, of course, personal accounts that tell the California Current system is thor- poration of such an argument within us about some of the mistakes made or ough. A focus of the CalCOFI program this book, it overstates the case and fails even how successes came about from trial is the environmental drivers of sardine to provide a balanced and informa- and error. These just make the program and anchovy recruitment, and this chap- tive review of the global development of all the more inspiring. ter provides the details of both. Missing EBM. That notwithstanding, CalCOFI is This book will appeal to research- is any research on Pacific hake, which is unequivocally a stellar example of expan- ers and graduate students who study the surprising given its changes in seasonal sion from a single-species focus (initially California Current System. It is truly migratory behavior and its importance as sardine) into a holistic approach to fish- regional, focusing only on the central a commercially exploited species. eries oceanography. Today, fisheries sci- and southern portion because the current It might be easy to forget that CalCOFI ence is struggling to implement EBM, CalCOFI program operates in this region initially included laboratory-based exper- and CalCOFI, with its long-term data only. However, my own research focuses imental studies on the early life-history sets, is well placed to begin EBM in the on the coastal migrants in the northern stages of small pelagic fish. Chapter 5 California Current region. This chapter portion of the California Current System, revisits this important component and outlines avenues for that implementa- and I will be routinely consulting this ref- provides a reminder that some truly inno- tion, particularly in integrated ecosystem erence text to understand the dynamics vative research was conducted specifi- assessments (IEAs). It is a bit dishearten- in the southern range. McClatchie has cally on identifying anchovy larvae pre- ing that, despite CalCOFI being a world provided a well-written, accessible, and dation by krill in the ocean. The coupling renowned, long-term, integrated ecosys- integrated review of the CalCOFI pro- of these laboratory experiments to field tem sampling program, it has yet to be gram. I would highly recommend read- observations resulted in advancements used for IEAs and in full EBM. This per- ing this book. toward understanding the predation, bio- haps provides the scientific and manage- energetics, growth, behavior, and canni- ment communities with food for thought. Jacquelynne R. King (jackie.king@dfo-mpo. gc.ca) is Research Scientist, Marine Eco- balism of the larval stages of small pelagic Chapter 8 is a collection of personal systems and Aquaculture Division, Science fish, particularly anchovy. It’s unfortunate perspectives from previous and current Branch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, that this component of CalCOFI has now researchers and students of CalCOFI on Nanaimo, BC, Canada. taken a less prominent role. why it was/is such an important scientific

178 Oceanography | Vol.27, No.4