The Clodia database: a long time series of fishery data from the Adriatic Sea

Long-term time series of species abundances can depict population declines and changes in communities in response to anthropogenic activities, climate changes, alterations of trophic relationships. Here we present a database of historical marine fishery landing data, covering a remarkably long time series (1945-2013) and referring to one of the most exploited areas of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea. The database includes two time series of landing data, 1945-2013 and 1997-2013, from the official statistics of the fish market of Chioggia, where the major fishing fleet of the area operates. Comparisons between the landing data of the database and landing data from other fisheries or data from scientific surveys support the reliability of the time series in depicting changes in species abundances. The database is expected to be used by fishery biologists and ecologists interested in depicting and understanding temporal variations in species abundances and community composition, in relation to environmental and anthropogenic factors.