A comprehensive and standardized list of Pacific marine foodfish in 22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories to enable comparative analyses and improved national surveys. National lists of marine fish caught for food were cleaned of errors and standardised to current valid names using authoritative global databases. National lists were then aggregated to sub-region and regional scales.
Methods used to create the foodfish and an initial analysis of patterns are reported Andrew N.L. et al. (2025) The Pacific foodfish list: a standardized list of over 1000 species of marine fish consumed by Pacific people. Pacific Conservation Biology 31, PC24082. doi:10.1071/PC24082.
The dataset contains: (i) a list of foodfishes reported in creel and market surveys by national agencies and their partners, and (ii) a list of fishes recorded in the region consistent with categories used in the foodfish list. Species are only reported in the foodfish list if they are recorded in national catch surveys. The list provides scientific and English common names, taxonomic authorities and distributions of foodfish species. In addition, codes that link species to other databases are provided, specifically: (i) SPC CFAP speciesId as used in Ikasavea and other SPC coastal fisheries databases, and (ii) the SPC OFP code as used historically by artisanal fisheries surveyors using TAILS. The OFP code is uses the FAO 3 letter code, which has been extended to include species not listed by FAO.
Taxonomy is a dynamic science so the scientific names provided in this dataset may differ depending on the schedules of updates followed by reference taxonomic database (e.g. WoRMS, FishBase, Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes). The Pacific foodfish list will be regularly updated when taxonomy changes or new species are reported and confirmed in creel, market or community surveys. If you discover errors in the dataset then please contact Franck Magron ([email protected]) and Neil Andrew ([email protected]).
Citation
To refer to the methods used to develop the foodfish list, cite Andrew et al. (2025) as above. To cite the dataset, use the following format (example below for current version):
Pacific Community (2025). Pacific foodfish list. Version 2.1. Pacific Data Hub (https://pacificdata.org/). Accessed [date].
License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
