780 



Fishery Bulletin 94(4). 1996 



significant environmental perturbation, an opportu- 

 nity that yielded some insight into the recruitment 

 process. Characterizing the link between larval rock- 

 fish distribution and the hydrographically dynamic 

 environment of the central California coast required 

 finer-scale spatial and temporal sampling than has 

 been achieved previously. Rockfish larvae were more 

 abundant and larger at onshore stations in 1992, 

 coinciding with onshore advection of water during 

 the onset of the El Nino event and suggesting reten- 

 tion of larvae nearshore; abundance of juvenile rock- 

 fishes in nearshore areas later in that year was ex- 

 tremely low. Initiation of upwelling in March and 

 April of 1993 and the occurrence of fewer rockfish 

 larvae at onshore stations suggest greater offshore 

 transport during the second year; juvenile rockfish 

 abundance was greater than the previous summer. 

 From these data, we suggest that substantially 

 higher survival and recruitment of juvenile rock- 

 fishes in 1993 likely are due to increased offshore 

 transport and dispersal, and possibly lower preda- 

 tion, during the larval stages. 



Acknowledgments 



This study was funded primarily by a grant from the 

 National Sea Grant College Program, National Oce- 

 anic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Commerce, under grant number NA89AA- 

 D-SG138, project number R/F-142 to V. Loeb, M. 

 Yoklavich, and G. Cailliet through the California Sea 

 Grant College, and in part by the California State 

 Resources Agency. We appreciate the enthusiastic 

 efforts of Dawn Outram and P. G Stipa (Moss Land- 

 ing Marine Laboratories) with field and laboratory 

 assistance. We thank George Boehlert, Greg Cailliet, 

 Jim Harvey, Richard Parrish, Steve Ralston, Frank 

 Schwing, and three anonymous reviewers for their 

 helpful comments on this manuscript. We acknowl- 

 edge Leslie Rosenfeld for the use of hydrographic data 

 collected prior to 1992, David Woodbury for provid- 

 ing growth information on juvenile rockfishes, and 

 Tone Nichols for assistance with graphics. 



Literature cited 



Alvariho, A. 



1980. The relation between the distribution of zooplankton 

 predators and anchovy larvae. CalCOKI Rep. 21:150-160. 

 Anderson, T. W. 



1983. Identification and development of nearshore juvenile 



rockfishes ( Genus Sebastes I in central California kelp forests. 

 M.A. thesis, California State Cniversity. Fresno. CA, 216 p. 



Baduini, C. L. 



1995. Feeding ecology of the basking shark (Cetorhinus 

 maximus) relative to distribution and abundance of 

 prey. M.S. thesis, San Jose State Univ., CA, 108 p. 

 Bailey, K. M., and E. D. Houde. 



1989. Predation on eggs and larvae of marine fishes and 

 the recruitment problem. Adv. Mar. Biol. 25:1-83. 

 Bailey, K. M., and L. S. Incze. 



1985. El Nino and the early life history and recruitment of 

 fishes in temperate marine waters. In W. S. Wooster and 

 D. L. Fluharty (eds.), El Nino north: Nino effects in the 

 Eastern Subarctic Pacific Ocean, p. 143-165. Washing- 

 ton Sea Grant, Seattle, WA. 

 Barnett, A. M., A. E. Jahn, P. D. Sertic, and W. Watson. 



1984. Distribution of ichthyoplankton off San Onofre, Cali- 

 fornia, and methods for sampling very shallow coastal 

 waters. Fish. Bull. 82:97-111. 



Boehlert, G. W. 



1977. Timing of the surface-to-benthic migration in juve- 

 nile rockfish, Sebastes diploproa, off southern Cali- 

 fornia. Fish. Bull. 75:887-890. 



Boehlert, G. W., D. M. Gadomski, and B. C. Mundy. 



1985. Vertical distribution of ichthyoplankton off the Or- 

 egon coast in spring and summer months. Fish. Bull. 

 83:611-621. 



Breaker, L. C. 



1983. The space-time scales of variability in oceanic ther- 

 mal structure off the central California coast. Ph.D. diss., 

 Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, 483 p. 

 Breaker, L. C., and W.W. Broenkow. 



1994. The circulation of Monterey Bay and related pro- 

 cesses. Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual 

 Review 32:1-64. 

 Breaker, L. C., P. A. W. Lewis, and E. J. Orav. 



1983. Analysis of a 12-year record of sea-surface tempera- 

 tures off Pt. Sur, California. Tech. Rep. NPS55-83-018, 

 Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, 62 p. 

 Brodeur, R. D., D. M. Gadomski, W. G. Pearcy, 

 H. P. Batchelder, and C. B. Miller. 



1985. Abundance and distribution of ichthyoplankton in the 

 upwelling zone off Oregon during anomalous El Nino 

 conditions. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci. 21:365-378. 

 Broenkow, W. W., and W. M. Smethie Jr. 



1978. Surface circulation and replacement of water in 

 Monterey Bay. Estuarine Coastal Mar. Sci. 6:583-603. 



Checkley, D. M., S. Raman, G. L. Maillet, and 

 K. M. Mason. 



1988. Winter storm effects on the spawning and larval drift 

 of a pelagic fish. Nature 335:346-34K 

 Chelton, D. B., and R. E. Davis. 



1982. Monthly mean sea-level variability along the west 

 coast of North America. J. Physical Oceanography 12: 

 757-784. 

 Chelton, D. B., P. A. Bernal, and J. A. McGowan. 



1982. Large-scale interannual physical and biological in- 

 teraction in the California Current. J. Mar. Res. 40:1095- 

 1125. 

 Doyle, M. J.. W. W. Morse, and A. W. Kendall Jr. 



1993. A comparison of larval fish assemblages in the tem- 

 perate zone of the northeast Pacific and northwest Atlan- 

 tic oceans. Bull. Mar. Sci. 53:588-644. 

 Farrell, T. M., D. Bracher, and J. Roughgarden. 



1991. Cross-shelf transport causes recruitment to intertidal 

 populations in central California. Limnol Oceanography 

 36:279-288. 



