The Catch and Status of Fisheries in the Central Atlantic, Mediterranean and Western Indian Oceans

The Sea Around Us, named after Rachel Carson's book of the same title, is a global research initiative at the University of British Columbia that started in 1999 with a mandate to assess the health of global oceans, and publish and disseminate solutions to the crisis of fisheries. It provides crucial data on time series (1950-near present) of the fisheries catches, which ensure the (sea)food security of numerous developing countries, but which are usually ignored in official statistics. We include information on value of the catch by flag state, ecosystem or statistical division, fishing sector, and catch type (landings vs. discards), and fisheries-related information on every maritime country (e.g., government subsidies, marine biodiversity). Regular updates extend the coverage of these reconstructed catch time series (the most recent is for 1950-2022), which are used by articles in this Research Topic.



The goal of this Research Topic is to use the updated reconstructed catches (1950-2022) to infer trends that might impact fisheries and the status of these fisheries within an EEZ, an ecosystem or a region. Identify potential issues that might arise based on these trends and eventually suggest solutions to these issues.



We are interested in articles that will make full use of the 1950-2022 reconstructed catch time series to described the history of these fisheries. Primarily, articles will help us understand how the evolution of data gathering and sampling programs affected the quality of the reported landings and how the reconstruction process helped in recovering missing data to provide estimates of total catches. Secondly, articles will discuss how these time series of total reconstructed catches were used in investigating trends in these fisheries, from associated changes in fishing behavior, target species or deployed gears to changes in the social and cultural fiber of fishers and the associated economic impacts to these communities. Thirdly, articles will summarize how these trends affect the future of the fisheries in the region or sub-region, taking into consideration workable solutions to potential issues due to loss of catch potential, resource sharing or possible impacts of climate change on exploited biodiversity.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Catch Reconstructions, Catch Time Series, Stock Status, CMSY, African Fisheries, Regional Trends in Fisheries

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.