The California Coastal Pelagic Species Survey (CCPSS) is a collaborative scientific research program of California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and California Wetfish Producers Association (CWPA), with funding support provided by Collaborative Fisheries Research West.
The CCPSS team conducts research on the abundance, distribution and biological characteristics of commercially important marine fish stocks in the nearshore waters of southern California. The specific research focus is coastal pelagic species (CPS), such as Pacific sardine, northern anchovy, Pacific mackerel, and jack mackerel.
Using aircraft and boat-based surveys, digital photography, satellite-derived ocean color data, fisheries statistics and other sources of information, the CCPSS team has been investigating the occurrence of CPS throughout the southern California Bight – particularly in nearshore areas up to three miles off the coasts of the California mainland and Channel Islands, as well as in open water areas of the Bight.
Research results can inform CPS stock assessments and fisheries management within the larger contexts of the Southern California Bight, California Current Large Marine Ecosystem and the US West Coast, including the states of California, Oregon and Washington.
CCPSS Team Members
- Kirk Lynn, Environmental Scientist (aerial survey)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037
Office: (858) 243-3778
CPSHMS@wildlife.ca.gov
- Dianna Porzio, Environmental Scientist (boat survey)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Office: (562) 342-7178
CPSHMS@wildlife.ca.gov
- Diane Pleschner-Steele, Executive Director
California Wetfish Producers Association
P. O. Box 1951, Buellton, CA 93427
Office: (805) 693-5430
diane@californiawetfish.org