“HVAR” Expedition (1948–1949) in South-Eastern Adriatic (Croatia, Montenegro, Albania)

This study focuses on the historical data from the “HVAR” Expedition, i.e. the M/V “HVAR” cruise researches into fisheries biology in the open Adriatic, carried out in 1948–1949. These results are still of great importance for the Adriatic, even today, 71 years after the conclusion of the expedition, as they provide a unique insight into the state of fishery resources before the mass exploitation of the second half of the twentieth century. The most represented species in the catches by weight were M. merluccius, R. clavata, S. canicula, A. sphyraena and Z. faber. The significant presence of chondrichthyan species is noted, as is the absence of deep-water pink shrimp, P. longirostris, which is the dominant species in bottom trawl fisheries today. A comparison between “HVAR”, two other historical surveys (“BIOS” 1961, and “GORICA”, 1973) and MEDITS survey of 2018, shows a decrease in chondrichthian species and Catch per Unit of Effort (CPUE; kg/h), with a recent increase in P. longirostris abundance.