<h2>Introduction to the Project</h2> Legislative action formed the Marine Research Committee in [1947][1], after a particularly bad year for the California sardine fishery. From a report summarizing the history of CalCOFI from 1947 – 1955: *The membership consisted of five men from the sardine industry, one public representative, and three ex-officio members – one from the Fish and Game Commission, two from the Department of Fish and Game. A special tax was put on sardine landings and was later expanded to cover anchovies, jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, herring, and squid. All but a fraction of these funds has been spent by the Marine Research Committee to foster research on oceanic fishes.* The program came to be known as the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI), and was modeled on a [program][2] being carried out at the California Department of Fish and Game and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Scripps Institution of Oceanography joined the effort in 1949. In 1951, the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University became involved in order to collect oceanographic data in and near Monterey Bay. Hopkins conducted weekly sampling (more or less) continuously from March 1951 through June 1974. The raw and aggregated data for most of these cruises currently resides in the library at the Hopkins Marine Station. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories took over the sampling program in July 1974 (Broenkow et al., 1975). The aim of the initial program was to conduct joint fisheries-oceanographic cruises that would help researchers understand what contributed to the crash of the California sardine fishery. Today the scope of the [CalCOFI effort][3], “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”. Station locations for the Hopkins Marine Station CalCOFI Program from 1954 - 1974 (surface to 50 m). From 1951 - 1955, Station 3 was sampled weekly to a depth of 1000 m. ![CalCOFI Stations in Monterey Bay, 1954-1974][4] The data collected on these cruises (aboard R/V Tage and R/V Proteus) includes hydrographic variables (temperatute, salinity, silicate, phosphate, and more), meteorological observations, phytoplankton and zooplankton volumes and genus/species counts, marine mammal and bird observations, and more. Here are the materials: ![The set of 3-ring notebooks][5] To see PDFs of scans of materials from the collection, and a few photos, go to "Scanned Docs" [component][6] of this OSF site. For an inventory of the collection (very general), continue to the "Inventory" [component][7]. For current activities, go to the "Curation Sandbox" [component][8] and check the wiki there. ---------- <h3>References</h3> 1. Marine Research Committee. Part I. The Marine Research Committee, 1947-55; Part II. Population Dynamics Of The Pacific Sardine [Internet]. [cited 2016 May 18]. (CalCOFI Report Vol 04, 1955). Report No.: 4. Available from: http://calcofi.org/ccpublications/ccreports/calcofi-reports-pdf.html?task=weblink.go&id=173 2. William W. Broenkow, Stephen R. Lasley, George C. Schrader. California Cooperative Fisheries Investigations Hydrographic Data Report, Monterey Bay, July to December 1974. Monterey, California; Report No.: 75-1. 4. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI). CalCOFI Program Overview [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2016 May 18]. Available from: http://calcofi.org/about-calcofi/program-overview.html [1]: http://calcofi.org/ccpublications/ccreports/calcofi-reports-pdf.html?task=weblink.go&id=173 [2]: http://calcofi.org/ccpublications/ccreports/calcofi-reports-pdf.html?task=weblink.go&id=173 [3]: http://calcofi.org/about-calcofi/program-overview.html [4]: http://mfr.osf.io/export?url=https://osf.io/grz6w/?action=download%26direct%26mode=render&initialWidth=400&childId=mfrIframe&format=600x600.jpeg [5]: https://mfr.osf.io/export?url=https://osf.io/hu7hb/?action=download&direct&mode=render&initialWidth=848&childId=mfrIframe&format=400x400.jpeg [6]: https://osf.io/dxya5/ [7]: https://osf.io/jpsjd/ [8]: https://osf.io/tp2cw/