IMPACT OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND CHANGE OF THE PELAGIC ECOSYSTEM AND FISHERIES OF THE CALIFORNIA CURRENT

The California Current (CC) forms the eastern limb of the large-scale circulation of the North Pacific Ocean gyre. The CC flows equatorward along the west coast of the United States and Mexico carrying relatively cool, low salinity subarctic water down to the tip of the peninsula of Baja California. The organization and structure of the pelagic ecosystem of the California Current is strongly linked to the ocean dynamics of the upper 200 m and subject to interannual to decadal fluctuations and longer term change in the ocean-atmosphere climate over the north pacific. This presentation examines the links between interannual and decadal climate variability and the changes in the state of the pelagic ecosystem in the California Current off Baja California using data from the period from 1997-2008 ocean monitoring by the IMECOCAL (Mexican program for research on the California Current). The relationship of the climate and ecosystem changes to fisheries is exemplified by the change in distribution and productivity of the sardine population associated with climate. Our motivation is to summarize our current understanding of the relation between climate and ecosystem response and to indicate the transboundary nature of the fishery between Mexican and U.S waters.