Rockfish Recruitment Survey Catch Data from Central California, 1983 Onwards

Central California coastal waters are the focus of this midwater trawl survey conducted by NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center since 1983. The dataset likely contains catch records for young-of-the-year rockfish and other epipelagic micronekton, including groundfish and coastal pelagic species. It was authored by John C. Field of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling rockfish recruitment indices based on young-of-the-year catch data.
• Analyzing long-term trends in epipelagic micronekton assemblages off central California.
• Studying ecosystem responses to oceanographic conditions using multi-species catch records.

Strengths

• Time series initiated in 1983, providing over three decades of potential data.
• Survey design targets multiple components of the epipelagic micronekton community.
• Methods and results are documented in peer-reviewed publications cited in the description.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division

Collection Method

Midwater trawl survey

Time Range

1983 onwards

Geography

Central California coastal waters, neritic zone of the California Current