SCARFISH Action Group

Antarctic fish make up a significant portion of the biomass in the Southern Ocean, support economically important fisheries, and comprise a stunning array of unique biodiversity, and evolutionary history. Despite their critical importance to the functioning of marine ecosystems, fish are among the most under-studied components of the Southern Ocean food web. This underscores the importance of dedicated research, coordination, collaboration and engagement on Antarctic fish and their ecosystems. 

Recent syntheses highlight crucial knowledge gaps in our understanding of how climate change and other anthropogenic pressures have, and will continue to impact Southern Ocean fish, with implications for the marine ecosystem as a whole and how it is managed. These issues are of high importance to CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources), which has a key role in coordinating fish research, with the primary objective being the conservation and management of Antarctic marine living resources. 

The urgency of addressing these knowledge gaps highlights the need for a platform that fosters collaboration between CCAMLR and the broader Antarctic research community to coordinate research on all Antarctic fish species, facilitating the exchange of relevant results, data and fieldwork opportunities, as well as highlighting research gaps, policy initiatives and needs between both communities.

To this end, the three overarching aims of SCARFISH are to:

1. Identify fish research gaps and foster collaboration and coordination to fill those gaps;
2. Synthesize fish research needs from CCAMLR and work to integrate more comprehensive Southern Ocean fish research into CCAMLR; and
3. Broaden diversity of researchers in Southern Ocean fish research.

We welcome widespread engagement from the Southern Ocean research community, including other SCAR groups. We welcome all interested in Southern Ocean fish research to join SCARFISH by joining our mailing list. If you have any questions, or want to learn more about the group, don’t hesitate to contact and/or get in touch with us at scarfish@scar.org.