ABSTRACT
The Chilean coastal ecosystem (figure 13.1) is one of the worlds richest marine systems. This is related to the coastal upwelling effect (see chapter 12).
The system has been intensely studied and we have a good idea of fish abundance and distribution at different points in time. Some of them are from the pre-fishing era (1920), while others concern different levels of fishing exploitation (Neira and Arancibia, 2004; Neira et al., 2004). From these studies, it appears that the system has switched between several reference states. This switching may be related to the influence of climate (e.g. the effect of the El Nino event) and fishing pressure (some species being over-exploited).
