Fisheries in coastal lagoons: An assumed but poorly researched aspect of the ecology and functioning of coastal lagoons

Coastal lagoons are considered to be among the most productive ecosystems in the world. Many of them support important fisheries, and some of them maintain intensive and extensive aquacultural exploitations. Their particular features, such as shallowness, relative isolation and protection from the sea, and the presence of boundaries with strong physical and ecological gradients help explain this high productivity. Despite the fact that coastal lagoons are among the most studied ecosystems in the world, our knowledge on fisheries in coastal lagoons or why some lagoons capable of maintaining profitable fisheries seem inadequate for intensive aquaculture remains limited. Scarce, too, is our knowledge of the characteristics of target species, their exploitation status, and the ecological processes that are affected by fisheries or that influence them, including the impact of human activities or climatic change. Here, we review present day knowledge on lagoon fisheries and analyse gaps in the science, stressing the need for adequate management of these important resources. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.