Pacfic CPR Background

Back in 1997 the ARCO Alaska (as she was then known) carried out a 2000 nautical mile pilot tow of a CPR from Valdez, Prince William Sound Alaska to Long Beach, California. This was the first ever CPR tow in the Pacific. This pilot study provoked interest and the North Pacific Marine Science Organisation (known as PICES, an organisation of government delegates and scientists from six north Pacific rim countries) supported the idea of regular CPR tows to provide baseline data on the plankton populations of the North Pacific.

Funding was granted by the North Pacific Marine Research Initiative for 2 years and SAHFOS approached ARCO Marine (now Polar Tankers) and Seaboard International Shipping Company to tow CPRs on two routes; the Alaska to California route (towed by the Polar Independence and the Polar Alaska) and a second route from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Japan (towed by the Skaubryn). The first routine tows took place in 2000 and since then the norm is for 3 east-west transects each year (in roughly April June and September) and 5 or 6 north to south transects in each year (roughly monthly between March and September). Polar Tankers were unable to tow the CPR after the end of 2003 and so in 2004 a new route was started between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Cook Inlet, from the Horizon Kodiak.

Between 2002 and 2007 the project received its funding from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOS) and the North Pacific Research Board. We are grateful for their long-term support, and also for the generous volunteer assistance of the shipping companies, the ships and their officers and crew. Funding in 2008 was limited and sampling was reduced but PICES initiated a funding consortium and long-term commitments were obtained from the NPRB and Fisheries and Oceans, Canada (DFO). In 2010, EVOS will rejoin the consortium and Japan gives in-kind support through analysis of western Pacific samples from 2009. Although the full funding level has not yet been attained there is some support promised until 2013, ensuring the new survey will extend beyond a decade of sampling.

The pictures of the CPR deployments shown here were taken by the crew of the Skaubryn (Now completed ten years of towing)