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) 546-7167
Kirk.Lynn@wildlife.ca.gov
- Dianna Porzio, Environmental Scientist (boat survey)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
4665 Lampson Avenue, Los Alamitos, CA 90720
Office: (562) 342-7178
Dianna.Porzio@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
Additional Information
-
Exploratory nearshore habitat analyses from the Southern California Coastal Pelagic Species Survey (PDF)
CalCOFI Poster presentation, December 2014
- Research article: Aerial sardine surveys in the Southern California Bight (PDF)
California Fish and Game, November 2014
- Bird's eye view: Aerial surveys of nearshore waters provide important information for managing CPS
CDFW Marine Management News, October 9, 2014
- Oceanspaces: Focusing In – Collaborative Fisheries Research West
Oceanspaces blog, July 8, 2014
- New grant to "fill gap" in sardine stock assessment
CA Sea Grant blog, August 12, 2013
- DFG and Partners use Aircraft and Submersible Camera to Count Pacific Sardine
CDFW News, October 15, 2012