Most of the monthly catches and CPUE of 13 studied commercial species in the coastal waters of the north-western Mediterranean were significantly positively correlated with run-off of local rivers (Rhone and Muga) and the wind mixing index during the spawning season, with time lags of less than a year (transfer function analyses). Rhone and Ebre interannual fluctuations in run-off were synchronous and were related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), river run-offs being negatively correlated to high NAO episodes. The fluctuations of river discharges and the wind mixing index were cyclic but not related. The results showed that enhanced hydroclimatic conditions in the NW Mediterranean were favourable for the productivity of the fish and invertebrate stocks, and suggest the presence of linkage between recruitment of Mediterranean species and local (river discharges, wind conditions) and global (NAO) environmental conditions.