SCARFISH : A new SCAR action group to co‐ordinate Antarctic fish research

Fish are among the most understudied components of the Southern Ocean food web, yet they are critically important to the functioning of Antarctic marine ecosystems (Caccavo et al., 2021; McCormack et al., 2021). Fish make up a significant portion of the biomass in the Southern Ocean (Dornan et al., 2022; Eastman, 2005), support economically important fisheries (Brooks, 2013; Everson, 2019; Grilly et al., 2015; Stoeckl et al., 2024) and comprise a dazzling array of unique biodiversity along with high endemism (Duhamel et al., 2014; Eastman, 2005; Hill et al., 2017), adaptations (Bista et al., 2023; Daane & Detrich, 2022; Hotaling et al., 2023) and evolutionary history (Dornburg et al., 2017; Near et al., 2012). Recent syntheses have highlighted the compounding impacts of climate change, including increasing variability in temperature, acidification, sea ice coverage and primary productivity, together with anthropogenic pressures such as pollution, tourism and fisheries on Southern Ocean ecosystems (Chown et al., 2022; Constable et al., 2023). Although studies have highlighted the pressures on Antarctic marine ecosystems, associated uncertainties and knowledge gaps more broadly, there is a critical need to assess research priorities with respect to Southern Ocean fish species, especially with regard to genomics, climate change impacts, as well as status, trends and vulnerabilities of non-targeted and by-catch species (Caccavo et al., 2021). Furthermore, improved co-ordination of international research efforts, especially those focused on climate change impacts on Southern Ocean fish, will strengthen the understanding of this key ecosystem component, providing much-needed information for conservation and management purposes, helping to achieve the objectives of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), as well as those of other international bodies and conventions such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Recognizing this, a group of research experts within the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) have formed a new Action Group focused on fish: ‘SCARFISH’. SCARFISH aims to bring together existing research communities by facilitating knowledge exchange, improving co-ordination of priorities, disseminating recent research developments, navigating data sharing and broadening participation in these communities from currently underrepresented groups. In this paper, we introduce SCARFISH and its Working Groups and encourage widespread participation in this new initiative.