The CalCOFI data, in conjunction with other long series such as otolith records from long-lived fish and catch statistics for commercial fisheries, provide a unique and ongoing opportunity to quantify the dynamics of populations and communities over decades with complementary measurements of physical, chemical and biological parameters. Such consistent records of marine animal abundances are rare, particularly in the context of the biophysical associations. They provide not only histories of population sizes but estimates of growth and survival of early planktonic larvae of fishes and other living marine resources. The large number of diverse time series and survey data present a great opportunity to improve our understanding of the nature of EBC ecosystems before any additional field work begins. Many data sets have not been analyzed to any degree.
Many biological collections remain largely unsorted by species or groups.
Improved computer technology allows analysis of very large data sets that could not be readily manipulated in the past. Even those data that have been examined previously with traditional statistical techniques merit reanalysis with state-space statistical modeling and modern time series techniques. Historical records of animal population changes. Fisheries data, and marine bird and mammal censuses provide extensive time series, some extending back more than 100 years. A special property of the long historical records of fish, mammal and bird abundances is that they may provide not only a history of variation in population size, but also may provide estimates of life table variables that control population growth.