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The need for long-term biological data collection in the Gulf of Maine becomes critical in light of increasing evidence for change in New England's climate. It becomes increasingly important for the fishing industry as decisions about fishery management shift from a single or multi-species to an ecosystem-based approach. By involving the expertise and resources in the local fishing community, we hope to learn more about the natural and man-made variability of the Gulf of Maine marine ecosystem. Our initial focus is at the level of zooplankton, which are the intermediaries between phytoplankton and fish in coastal ocean food webs and are under sampled in Gulf of Maine monitoring and observing programs. A long-time series of zooplankton data would contribute to understanding whether dramatic changes in fish stocks were being forced by environmental conditions and bottom-up processes or by overfishing. By focusing on weekly sampling at fixed stations, this Northeast Consortium program will complement existing Gulf of Maine monitoring activities, as it will provide much-needed observations of the seasonal production cycles of phytoplankton and zooplankton. WIth a fine scale knoweldge of the seasonal cycles it would be possible to detect any warming trends in the Gulf of Maine. One of the species that could serve as an indicator would be the copepod, Calanus finmarchicus. Calanus is at its southern most extent of habitat and may not survive well in warmer temperatures. Many species are dependent on Calanus such as herring, cod in its younger stages and right whales. There's the possibility one would see an effect all the way up the food chain if Calanus leave the area. These data are extremely useful for coupled physical-biological model development, as they would document the timing of biological events that can be used to test model predictions and provide insight not only into the extent of interannual variability and trends in plankton biomass and structure but also in the timing of biological events in the pelagic ecosystem. The measurements of seasonal cycles in the Gulf of Maine plankton will be useful for the interpretation of the MARMAP plankton survey data (e.g. Sherman et al. 2002).