FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72, NO. 2 



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SARDINE/ANCHOVY RATIO. SANTA BARBARA BASIN 



laeo 1970 1360 1950 1340 1930 19S0 1910 1900 lfl90 IBBO 1B70 IBGO 1B50 IflJO 1H30 IBSO laiO 



19B0 1970 13E0 1950 19-10 1930 1950 1910 1900 1B90 IBBO 1B7Q IBGO IBSO 1B40 1830 IBSO IBIO IBOO 1790 1760 



Figure 11. — The ratio of Pacific sardine scales to northern anchovy scales in the sediments of the Santa Barbara and Soledad Basins. 



intensive efforts over the past 20 yr, has been 

 gleaned from unproductive times, and there is yet 

 limited appreciation of the capacity of the system. 

 In regard to this point, a level of 15 million metric 

 tons is suggested for the 1890's. 



The scale records of two other pelagic fish serve 

 to underscore the preceding observations. The 

 record of the Pacific saury (Figure 10a, c) indicates 

 an intrusion by this fish during the 1940's into the 

 coastal waters. It would appear the saury found 

 these waters attractive in the anomalous paucity 

 of the more regular inhabitants. Although the 

 information in the case of the Pacific mackerel is 

 meager, the scale record (Figure 10b, d) resembles 

 that of the saury in that the higher scale occur- 

 rences are near the ends of the record. 



The records preserved in the sediments display 



a panorama of pelagic-fish abundance in the 

 California Current over the past 150 yr. Interpre- 

 tations of these records in the limited light of pres- 

 ent knowledge point in both disturbing and excit- 

 ing directions: disturbing, in revealing the mag- 

 nitude and duration of the effort needed to encom- 

 pass such a system; exciting, in the temporal 

 glimmer of its flow and potential. The character of 

 pelagic-fish abundance in California Current 

 waters is perhaps best summarized in graphic 

 form (Figure 11). The records of the two critical 

 species, the Pacific sardine and the northern an- 

 chovy, when treated as a simple ratio exhibit a 

 marked cyclical distribution (Santa Barbara) and 

 a unique-event distribution (Soledad). The basic 

 factors which gave rise to these distributions are 

 most likely interspecific and autecologic. The 



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