In 1982, Basrah University decided to publish a marine science journal. It was originally named the Iraqi Journal of Marine Science during its first year of publication. During 1982, issues Number 1 and Number 2 of Volume 1 were released. The members of the editorial board were Dr. L.A.J. Al-Hassan, Dr. S. A. Darmoian, Dr. B. M. Al-Ramadhan, and Dr. S. D. Salman.

The journal then ceased publication, and was not to be restarted until 1987. The Marine Science Centre then decided to change its name to Marina Mesopotamica to make it more distinctive among other Iraqi scientific journals. The following volumes and issues were released between 1987 and 2002:

Vol. 2, No. 1, 1987 ----------------- Vol. 3, No. 1 & 2, 1988
Vol. 4, No. 1 & 2, 1989 ------------ Vol. 5, No. 1 & 2, 1990
Vol. 6, No. 1 & 2, 1991 ------------ Vol. 7, No. 1 & 2, 1992
Vol. 8, No. 1 & 2, 1993 ------------ Vol. 9, No. 1 & 2, 1994
Vol. 10, No. 1 & 2, 1995 ----------- Vol. 11, No. 1 & 2, 1996
Vol. 12, No. 1 & 2, 1997 ----------- Vol. 13, No. 1 & 2, 1998
Vol. 14, No. 1 & 2, 1999 ----------- Vol. 15, No. 1 & 2, 2000
Vol. 16, No. 1 & 2, 2001 ----------- Vol. 17, No. 1, 2002

Members of the editorial board during this period included:

Editor in Chief ---------- Dr. A.B.M. Mohamed
Secretary --------------- Dr. S. D. Salman
Editorial Board --------- Dr. N. A. Hussein, Dr. S. M. Shamahoom, Mr. Th. S. Ali, and Dr. L.A.J. Al-Hassan (until 1993).

The journal was distributed to the Gulf's universities and science centers, the U. N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education. After the 1991 Gulf War, the journal was distributed only to the FAO and the Ministry of Higher Education.

Apart from the editorial board, which included the director of the Marine Science Centre as editor, and heads of departments as members, there were no other staff working for the journal. The normal routine work of the journal included processing of manuscripts as received, and distributing them to be reviewed abroad. Once manuscripts were accepted and issues were ready for publication, the whole publication process, including distribution, was managed through the Basrah University Press.

Marina Mesopotamica was not issued on a regular basis, despite efforts by the administration for it to appear annually. For the first few issues, manuscripts were sent abroad (outside Iraq) for review. Unfortunately, as the general situation in Iraq started to worsen, manuscripts were sent to some local reviewers who were probably seldom competent to judge whether or not particular papers should have been accepted. Nevertheless, although the standard of the journal dropped after 1993, these later articles still contain much useful raw data.

Due to the bad economic situation in Iraq at that time, distribution of the journal gradually slowed and publication finally ceased in 2002.

The current editorial board convened on April 9, 2003, and consists of the following members:

Editor in Chief ---------- Prof. Dr. S. D. Salman
Secretary --------------- Assistant Prof. Dr. N. A. Salman
Editorial Board --------- Assistant Prof. Dr. S. S. Hussein, Dr. K. K. Abass, and Assistant Prof. Mr. A. A. Al-Mahdi.

Royce J. Bitzer, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, U.S.A.
Laith A. J. Jawad, National Museum Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
Hamid K. Ahmed, Halton College, Widnes, Cheshire, U. K.