Hard>-Weinburg calculations, made on tiansferrin types 

 of 694 anchovies from southern California and 506 from 

 southern Baja California, indicated that the samples were 

 drawn from two genetically distinct subpopulations. 



The location of the division between the two sub- 

 populations has not been established, however. All of 

 the southern Baja California samples are from the Viz- 

 caino Bay area, to the south of the approximate location 

 of a possible division suggested by otiier studies, such as 

 those of J.L. McHugh, who postulated that the northern 

 anchovy off California and Baja California was divisible 

 into three subpopulations or stocks. A.M. Vrooman has 

 not so far been able to confirm the existence of McHugh's 

 far northern stock with his genetic studies. He has found 

 only a small and insignificant difference in transferrin 

 gene frequencies in his few anchovy samples from north 

 of Point Conception. 



A.M. Vrooman has made electrophoretic compari- 

 sons of the soluble eye lens proteins of three species of 

 hake, and found fewer absorption bands in Merlucciiis 

 alticlus from the Gulf of Mexico than in M. prochicnis 

 from California or M. gayi from Chile. The proteins of 

 the latter two are very similar. Comparison of the solu- 

 ble proteins in the cortex and nuclear portions of the 

 hake eye lenses indicated that most of the proteins are 

 found in the cortex. 



A.M. Vrooman is also cooperating with the Califor- 

 nia Department of Fish and Game in a study of the de- 

 velopment of annuli on the scales and otoliths of the 

 northern anchovy. He is holding several thousand young- 

 of-the-year anchovies in two batches-one in the aquarium 

 and the other in a floating bait receiver in San Diego 

 Bay. Of these. 6,000 have been injected with tetracycline 

 hydrochloride to mark the growing edge of skeletal ma- 

 terial at the time of injection, and biweekly samples are 

 being collected from both batches as well as from the 

 local wild stock. 



New rings began to appear on scales and otoliths of 

 some of the fish during April. In scales taken from com- 

 mercial catches, the peak months for new ring formation 

 are February. March, and April. 



G.D. Sharp has begun work on the electrophoresis 

 of tuna hemoglobins and has examined five species of 

 commercially valuable tunas, using blood samples cumu- 

 latively collected at sea. stabilized, and returned to the 

 laboratory. He found no intraspecific variations in the 

 stocks of skipjack, yellowfin, or bigeye (Tfuininis obesiis) 

 tunas which he examined. He did find a high degree of 

 polymorphism in his samples of albacore from the West 

 Coast. 



G.D. Sharp has suggested that the polymorphism 

 which characterized 26 of the 76 individual albacore 

 which he examined will provide a means for a general 

 survey of the Pacific albacore population. There are sev- 



eral indications that suggest that there is more than one 

 subpopulation of albacore in the north Pacific Ocean. 



MEASURES OF ZOOPLANKTON 

 PRODUCTIVITY 



J.R. Zweifel has processed the zooplankton bio- 

 mass data from theCalCOFI survey for the years 1951-60 

 for computer analysis. This 10-year statistical summary 

 is of higli quality and continuity from Point Conception 

 to Sebastian Vizcaino Bay, and offshore for 200 miles 

 (370 km.) at all seasons of the year-a total area of 

 100,000 square miles (343,000 km.-). On the fiinge of 

 this area are an additional 75,000 square miles (258,000 

 km. 2) that have seasonal and areal lapses, but which 

 furnish useful basic information for comparison with the 

 main data block. 



These data have been summarized for use as an en- 

 vironmental feature, in the same way as temperature and 

 salinity, with which to associate spawning and larval sur- 

 vival of commercially important fish. The standing crop 

 of zooplankton clearly represents the difference between 

 two unknown curves-one representing the recruitment 

 of zooplankters to the population catchable with the 

 sampling net and the other representing the loss of zoo- 

 plankters from the sampled population by the processes 

 of natural mortality and advection. 



These summaries by month and area show seasons 

 of rapid increase and decrease, areas of extremely high 

 and of consistently low standing crops. These averages 

 will be used to detect anomalies which may be associated 

 with environmental features affecting fish populations. 

 It is evident already from the preliminary analyses that 

 the increase of biomass of zooplankton, annually peaking 

 around June, has no latitudinal trend as the season ad- 

 vances; the peak of biomass occurring in southern areas 

 is caused by local upgrowth of the zooplankton popula- 

 tion, not be advection from northern areas. 



Operations Research Program 



The projects within this program seek, in various 

 ways, an understanding of. and the development of. the 

 operational aspect of fisheries of the Region: they in- 

 clude: a systems analysis of the California fisheries from 

 both economic and technological viewpoints and to sug- 

 gest ways in which they may be placed on a more rational 

 basis: to devek)p tactical search tools for fishing vessels 

 and new and more efficient forms of fishing gear and to 

 examine the economic constraints presently operating on 

 the fisheries: to suggest how latent resources may be 

 utilized profitably. 



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