Marine shrimp fisheries research—a mismatch on spatial and thematic needs

Marine shrimp fishing is an economic activity of global importance due to its high profitability, but it also presents several environmental and socioeconomic problems. In a context of increasing need for fishery sustainability, scientific basis supporting fishery resources management is essential. However, evidence-based information is frequently scarce or generated by developed countries, even when resources are most abundant in areas of developing economy. Here we present a bibliometric analysis to map each country’s scientific production in relation to its marine shrimp fishery yield, along with a hurdle model with socioeconomic factors that could influence publication of articles on this subject. We observed a geographic mismatch between research needs and the places that produce them, once tropical and subtropical regions account for most of fishery yield while knowledge is produced in temperate regions where the most developed countries are concentrated. Accordingly, our model reveled that GDP was the most influential factor in number of articles, while population density had a negative effect. Concurrently, key research interests about marine shrimp fisheries tend to be basic biology topics, despite the need for conservation solutions.