Fishing industry imposes tax on catch to support research on causes of population failure. Ocean off California warms by 2 degrees C, causing anomalies in precipitation, plankton abundance, and fisheries. Oceanographers, fisheries personnel, meteorologists conclude that understanding and forecasting of fluctuations in coastal fisheries are best achieved by studying the entire ocean and ocean-atmosphere relationships. Subsequent volumes summarize the distribution of zooplankton biomass, seasonal sea-level pressure patterns, and drift bottle results. 1964 Sardine spawning biomass at 30,000 metric tons is one percent of the spawning biomass in 1938.
State legislature enacts fishery moratorium.
By counting fish scales taken from sediment cores off Santa Barbara, CalCOFI scientists are able to reconstruct an 1800 year record that shows sardines follow a cycle of decline and recovery about every 80 years. Sardine spawning biomass minimum at less than 10,000 metric tons. 1982 Large anomalies of temperature and zooplankton biomass in the CalCOFI data first linked to tropical El Ni o phenomena. El Ni o makes it one of the most thoroughly documented El Ni o events to date. Sardine spawning biomass reaches 30,000 metric tons, highest since 1964.