CalCOFI

The organization's members are from NOAA Fisheries Service, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The scope of this research has evolved into the study of marine ecosystems off California and the management of its fisheries resources.

This time-series of oceanographic and fisheries data allows scientists to assess the human impact and effects of climate change on the coastal ocean ecosystem.

CalCOFI hydrographic and biological data, publications, and web information are distributed for use without restriction under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

The fishery developed in the 1920s, peaking in the 1930s with sardine landings reaching over 700,000 tons in California, but was followed by a precipitous collapse in the 1940s.

[2][3] Disregarding the early warnings, the Pacific Sardine fishery continued in part driven by the wartime requirement for cheap sources of protein; by the 1940s and 1950s, catches declined by an order of magnitude to 80,000 tons.

Thus, CalCOFI surveys are generally grouped into sampling domains which are commonly covered over the duration of this ecological study[8] The largest sampling domain, which has been covered multiple times, is the area from the California–Oregon border to the tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico.

The sampling domain extending from San Diego to Avila Beach is today called the "core CalCOFI area".

Furthermore, technological advances have allowed increasing amounts of new chemical, physical, and biological properties to be measured within the water column.