title: A spatially distinct history of the development of california groundfish fisheries.
abstract: During the past century, commercial fisheries have expanded from small vessels fishing in shallow, coastal habitats to a broad suite of vessels and gears that fish virtually every marine habitat on the globe. Understanding how fisheries have developed in space and time is critical for interpreting and managing the response of ecosystems to the effects of fishing, however time series of spatially explicit data are typically rare. Recently, the 1933-1968 portion of the commercial catch dataset from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was recovered and digitized, completing the full historical series for both commercial and recreational datasets from 1933-2010. These unique datasets include landing estimates at a coarse 10 by 10 minute "grid-block" spatial resolution and extends the entire length of coastal California up to 180 kilometers from shore. In this study, we focus on the catch history of groundfish which were mapped for each grid-block using the year at 50% cumulative catch and total historical catch per habitat area. We then constructed generalized linear models to quantify the relationship between spatiotemporal trends in groundfish catches, distance from ports, depth, percentage of days with wind speed over 15 knots, SST and ocean productivity. Our results indicate that over the history of these fisheries, catches have taken place in increasingly deeper habitat, at a greater distance from ports, and in increasingly inclement weather conditions. Understanding spatial development of groundfish fisheries and catches in California are critical for improving population models and for evaluating whether implicit stock assessment model assumptions of relative homogeneity of fisheries removals over time and space are reasonable. This newly reconstructed catch dataset and analysis provides a comprehensive appreciation for the development of groundfish fisheries with respect to commonly assumed trends of global fisheries patterns that are typically constrained by a lack of long-term spatial datasets.
authors: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America; Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: Rebecca R
authors: RR
authors: Miller
authors: Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: John C
authors: JC
authors: Field
authors: Center for Stock Assessment Research, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: Jarrod A
authors: JA
authors: Santora
authors: Environmental Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Pacific Grove, California, United States of America.
authors: Isaac D
authors: ID
authors: Schroeder
authors: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: David D
authors: DD
authors: Huff
authors: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, c/o, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: Meisha
authors: M
authors: Key
authors: Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: Don E
authors: DE
authors: Pearson
authors: Fisheries Ecology Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors: Alec D
authors: AD
authors: MacCall
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D017753:Ecosystem; D005396:Fish Products / Q000191:economics; D005398:Fisheries / Q000266:history* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century