Aquatic ecosystems are ecologically diverse and provide a wealth of ecosystem services to people and societies all around the world. However, they are threatened by human activities and climate change, and have experienced significant decline in past decades. Developments in aquatic conservation research is therefore of critical importance for the conservation and sustainability of aquatic ecosystems and species. To investigate temporal trends in aquatic conservation research, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the 2785 publications published by the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems since its inception in 1991 to 2023. Although outputs and the proportion of open access publications has increased over time, publication output appears to be sensitive to global shocks such as Covid-19 – raising concerns about the fragility of aquatic conservation research support structures. In terms of citations, publications have a delayed but prolonged research impact, with a core citation window 4–8 years post-publication. The number of multi-author publications has increased over time, with an average of >6 authors since 2020. The internationality of authorship teams has also increased over time, but an imbalance remains for lead authors: Africa, central South America and Central Asia still remain under-represented. A keyword analysis highlights the persistent focus on conservation and biodiversity, with themes such as climate change and marine management emerging in the 21st century. These results show how aquatic conservation research is shifting towards a more collaborative, international effort, with the agility to respond to emerging global challenges. Looking to the future, we call for improved diversity in terms of authorship, disciplinary scope and geographical focus. Maintaining a nimbleness to emerging challenges will keep aquatic conservation research relevant, and greater consideration for interdisciplinarity and land–sea connectivity will accelerate innovation within the discipline and encourage further collaborative links.