CalFish Getting Started

Welcome to the CalFish Getting Started page. This page acts as a central location for tools and information to help you navigate and search for data within the CalFish site.tracking



For information about how to find information and data on the new Programs & Data pages on CalFish, please refer to the guidance document titled How to find data on the Programs and Data pages. The Program pages and Data Download pages were reorganized and consolidated to improve the user experience and make it easier to find information on CalFish. This new guidance document is intended to give guidance to the user about the new organization scheme.


The Data Explorer tool helps you find data and determine how data can be accessed. CalFish data are available in these formats:
     Geographic: An interactive map viewer
     Download: Save shapefiles to your computer and use in your own GIS software
A unique CalFish dataset may be available in one, two, or three of these formats. The Data Explorer will clearly state the available formats for each dataset, in addition to any special instructions needed to access the data in each format.


For a summary of CalFish data additions or updates please refer to the Data Tracking Report. This report documents when updates to existing data or additions of new data have taken place on the CalFish site since October 2011 in descending order. This report will be updated whenever a data update or addition is made.


CalFish Tutorials are available to give you step by step instructions specific to several core tools that are part of the site.


Still have questions? Please refer to our FAQ page.