Monitoring of demersal fish at inshore sites of the South Shetland Islands has continued at Potter Cove from 1991 to 1999, and at Harmony Cove, Nelson Island, in the austral summer of 1995/96. Still evident is the decline in trammel-net catches of fjord-dwelling Notothenia rossii and Gobionotothen gibberifrons in relation to the non-commercially fished Notothenia coriiceps, which was previously reported for the period 1983-1990. A trend of increasing N. rossii catches was observed, but the levels of relative abundance of this species and G. gibberifrons are well below those found in the early 1980s. These results are supported by our knowledge about the diet of the piscivorous Antarctic shag (Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis) in the South Shetland-Antarctic Peninsula area in this decade. The decrease in recruitment to the inshore sub-populations of N. rossii and G. gibberifrons over the last 16 years was most probably caused by the offshore commercial fishery in the area in the late 1970s. This interpretation is consistent with historical information on offshore commercial fishing and with the results of scientific surveys in the area.