Going Global: Internationalising the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey

Plankton are the 'life blood' of the oceans where they carry out key ecological services. These include forming the main food stock of most fisheries, the ability to control our climate and the generation of half the oxygen we breathe. Plankton are tiny organisms, generally microscopic in size and are difficult to sample. In 1931 Sir Alister Hardy set up the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey to help fishermanin the North Sea. The recorder is towed by merchant navy vessels on regular routes collecting plankton that are then analysed in the laboratory. Because of the demand for plankton data, the CPR Survey has grown and now operates at monthly frequency on standard tow routes in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic Oceans. In these oceans plankton are changing their abundance and distribution influenced by global change processes. For instance in the North Atalntic plankton have moved 1000 km northwards in 5 decades. This is due to large scale processes such as pollution, ocean acidification and climate change. The CPR SUrvey is managed by the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science in Plymouth UK. In the last 15 years, independent Surveys have been set up in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and China. South Africa, Namibia and Brazil wish to set up their own surveys. In each case the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science has helped these countries to set up their own surveys. This proposal is to create a Global Alliance for CPR Surveys (GACS) so that a global perspective can be achieved. GACS will be 'more than the sum of the individual parts' since we will move from a series of disconnected surveys towards a global perspective. This is needed to tackle the global challenges of climate, fisheries, pollution, and ocean acidification. The funding requested is to 'pump prime this process to enable the surveys to work together. A global database will be set up as will a website and newsletter. Training progarmmes involving secondment of staff will be set up. It is anticipated that GACS will be self sustaining once it is set and the way of working has been agreed.