R. Watson, (2005). paper presented at the Cartographie des prises halieutiques d’Afrique occidentale : 1950 à 2000 In Pêcheries maritimes, écosystèmes & sociétés en Afrique de l’Ouest : Un demi-siècle de changement, 24-28 juin 2002, Dakar, Senegal, 2005
A new approach is presented which allows broad regional landing statistics from FAO and other sources to be examined as detailed catch maps using avail-able knowledge of the distribution of commercial species and historical records of fishing access arrangements. Results are presented as time series composi-tions and as regional maps detailing changes since 1950 to 2000. These catches can be related to current exclusive economic zone boundaries and to the areas represented by ecological models (such as Ecospace), facilitating better use of landing statistics in economic, ecological and other analysis.