Digitised fish spawning distribution adapted from the Olsen 1883 Piscatorial Atlas dataset https://portal.medin.org.uk/portal/start.php?tpc=009_CEFAS460477E2-BCF8-4069-A640-51E55DB892EE The dataset is a collection of Geographic Information System (GIS) shapefiles showing the general distribution and spawning distribution of 14 fish species selected from the 46 maps in O.T. Olsen's Atlas ( `https://wellcomecollection.org/works/up4zvcsn`_) based on their relevance to the present day spawning datasets and commercial importance: cod, haddock, herring, lemon sole, mackerel, plaice, sole, whiting, skate, thornback ray, ling, horse mackerel, hake and sprat (general distribution only). The majority of the Olsen (1883) maps were for species either no longer considered in a large commercial capacity in UK waters (e.g. anchovy, garfish, tusk etc.) and/or had no comparative present day dataset available (e.g. mussels, turbot etc.). The data complements the present day fish spawning datasets, in: Coull, K.A., Johnstone, R. & Rogers, S.I. (1998) Fisheries sensitivity maps in British waters. *Published and distributed by UKOOA Ltd*, *9*. Ellis, J.R., Milligan, S.P., Readdy, L., Taylor, N. & Brown, M.J. (2012) Spawning and nursery grounds of selected fish species in UK waters. Sci. Ser. Tech. Rep., Cefas Lowestoft, 147: 56pp. See also, `Fisheries Sensitivity Maps | Marine Scotland Information`_ .. _`https://wellcomecollection.org/works/up4zvcsn`: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/up4zvcsn .. _`fisheries sensitivity maps | marine scotland information`: https://marine.gov.scot/information/fisheries-sensitivity-maps 20160613 20160527