CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



The survey pattern and area 2 



Data Collection 2 



The research vessel 2 



The plankton tow 5 



The gear 7 



Plankton nets 7 



Flovmieters 9 



Inclinometers 9 



Procedure for plankton tow 9 



The data sheet 9 



The tow 10 



Additional data collections 19 



Processing plankton and standardizing data 19 



Plankton volume determination 19 



Plankton sorting 23 



Identification of fish eggs and larvae 26 



Reference collection 29 



Curating 30 



Standardization 30 



Calibration of flowmeters 32 



Data publication 38 



Acknowledgments 38 



Literature cited 38 



Figures 



Page 



1. Basic station plan of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries 

 Investigations (CalCOFI) since 1950 3 



2. Starboard winch on NMFS research vessel David Starr Jordan used 



for plankton tows and Nansen bottle casts 5 



3. View of boom and block, upper left, on R/V Jordan. Plankton net 



tow in progress 6 



4. Weight (100 lb. = 45 kg) being swung overside at end of towing cable. 7 



5. Overside platform ("bucket") used to facilitate handling gear over 



water and away from side of ship 7 



6. Standard CalCOFI nets, 1-m mouth opening, 505-/it mesh through- 

 out, and 0.5-m mouth opening, 333-/U. mesh throughout 8 



7. Cod end used to concentrate plankton collected by net 9 



8. Inclinometer used to measure the angle of stray, wire angle, of 

 towing cable during plankton net tow 10 



9. Microammeter on console in wheelhouse to indicate angle of stray 

 registered by the telemetering inclinometer 11 



10. Plankton-tow data sheet. — A sample copy of a sheet made out for 

 station 80.52 on cruise 6907-J 12 



11. Depth-of-tow graph 13 



12. Cable clamp attaching plankton net lead line to towing cable 14 



iii 



