The study of fishery dynamics considers national-level fleet evolution. It has, however, failed to consider the flows behind fleet evolution as well as the impact of the dynamics of owners of invested capital on fleet evolution. This paper establishes a general conceptual framework which identifies different vessel and owner flows behind fleet evolution and some relationships between these flows. This descriptive conceptual framework aims to change the current focus on drivers of fleet evolution to drivers of the flows behind fleet evolution. We identify a direct impact of vessel flows on the fleet size and nature, and an indirect impact of the movements of capital owners on the fleet evolution (size and nature). This conceptual framework is illustrated using French Atlantic fleet data over a 15-year period (1994-2008). It is shown that the identified flows vary in size and nature and therefore impact differently on the fleet evolution. This description also shows some dependence of vessel flows on owner dynamics. This relationship should be better taken into account for more effective capacity management.