Accession No.: 97-20
PROCESSING RECORD
SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY ARCHIVES
Eastern Pacific Oceanic Council
Eastern Pacific Oceanic Council Records, 1954-1994
Physical Description: 2 mss
Description: The accession consists of records generated and kept by the secretary of
the Eastern Pacific Oceanic Council during the period 1954-1994. During this period
Joseph Reid, Marston Sargent, Michael Laurs and Jack A. Barth served as secretaries
of EPOC. The accession includes correspondence dated 1972-1976, Minutes of
meetings dated 1954-1994, and subject files.
The Eastern Pacific Oceanic Council was established in November 1994 “to further
oceanographic and biological investigations in the Eastern Pacific for the benefit of
fisheries.” Its functions as stated in 1954 are to “assist in coordinated planning and
execution of work at sea” and “exchange information on research program results.”
EPOC was modeled on ICES, but was not a governmental organization. EPOC
planned annual conferences. Initially EPOC members included heads of
oceanographic institutions, fisheries biologists and federal officials interested in
fisheries. The group discussed and influenced national policy on fisheries research,
planned cruises and coordinated oceanographic research in the Eastern Pacific. The
organization changed in the 1970’s. Its membership expanded and included more
individual scientists rather than institutional representatives. Research grants were
increasingly given to individual scientists rather than institutions, and so the
organization had less to do with the planning of specific cruises. The main work of
the EPOC leadership was to plan the annual EPOC conference. During its recent
history, EPOC includes individual scientists as members and concentrated on regional
projects and planning.
Oceanography Research Pacific Ocean; Barth, John Alexander ; Laurs, Michael ; Reid, Joseph L.
Sargent, Marston Cleaves