Early evidence for historical overfishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fisheries encompass complex interplays between social, economic, and environmental factors, but limitations on historical fisheries data can hamper efforts to identify and contextualize the long-term spatiotemporal patterns that shape them. We integrate 2500 years of stable isotope (δS, δC, and δN) and zooarchaeological evidence from Gulf of Mexico fisheries to assess cultural, demographic, and technological changes affecting sheepshead () populations and fishing practices in Louisiana, USA. Concurrent with human population growth, average sizes of sheepshead caught decreased from the 1720s to 1830s.