Aristegui J. auteur aut IRD Barton E. D. auteur aut IRD Alvarez-Salgado X. A. auteur aut IRD Santos A. M. P. auteur aut IRD Figueiras F. G. auteur aut IRD Kifani S. auteur aut IRD Hernandez-Leon S. auteur aut IRD Mason E. auteur aut IRD Machu Eric auteur aut IRD Demarcq Hervé auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access The Canary Current upwelling ecosystem (CanC) constitutes one of the four main eastern boundary upwelling ecosystems (EBUEs) of the world, thus hosting high productivity and fisheries. Recent observations indicate that the CanC region as a whole has been experiencing a progressive warming and a decrease in productivity over the last decades. This overall trend is however not directly reflected in the fisheries of the region. Here we update recent results and previous reviews on the CanC, covering aspects from the physical environment to fish populations and fisheries on a range of time scales. We approach these topics, when possible, through a comparative exploration of the biogeographical characteristics of different sub-regions comprising this ecosystem. This review shows that variability in coastline configuration, shelf width, coastal upwelling, nutrient fertilization, productivity, or retentive vs. dispersive physical mechanisms, among other factors, may help explain sub-regional differences in fish distributions and abundances in the CanC. Nevertheless, the lack of systematic information on the regional variability of physical and biological processes hampers an integrated understanding of the relative contribution of natural vs. human-induced variability in the populations of at least small-pelagic fishes and their associated fisheries. specialized 040 021 83 1-4 33-48 2009 0079-6611 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010049167 10.1016/j.pocean.2009.07.031 0079-6611 [F B010049167] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010049167 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2010/01/010049167.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2010-02-08 2017-08-23 fdi:010049167 fre