| Summary: | A detailed analysis is presented of the main contributions both local and international to the fields of oceanography and fishery sciences resulting from exploratory cruises carried out on the continental shelf off Argentina and the adjacent oceanic basin of SW Atlantic over the last 100 years. The end of the 19th century is chosen as starting point for this analysis as it marks the beginning of active marine research by Argentine scientists and an accumulation of information on Antarctic and Subantarctic marine organisms in foreign journals. Mention is also made to previous contributions derived from the classic expeditions and global circumnavigation voyages during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the aims of those were not always strictly oceanographic, they rendered however significant information to this field of knowledge. In the early years references arose mainly from the particular geographic situation of the Argentine shelf, a necessary passage in the navigation routes to the Pacific Ocean and later in the way to the Antarctica. Sources of information are divided into four categories: 1)foreign scientific projects in the area; 2)investigations by Argentine scientists and research vessels; 3)joint projects between Argentine and foreign institutions and 4)contributions from sources other than oceanographic cruises (commercial navigation, maritime weather reports, satellite images, etc.). The analysis includes an update and classified bibliographical list of the main contributions to the fields of oceanography and fishery sciences derived from those sources, published either in international or local journals or appearing as technical and internal reports. The motivations, objectives and main achievements of foreign surveys and programmes inthe area and their impact on local scientific progress are discussed.The early sixties mark a turning point in the evolution of international research in the area. The creation of biological research institutions along the Argentine coast, and the support given to ...
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