The North Atlantic Fisheries, 1100-1976 - University of Hull

eighteenth century when the Newfoundland fishing grounds were lost to
resident fishermen across the North Atlantic. While economic
explanations go a long way to explain these changing fates, there is less
certainty as regards biological factors. While variations in sea
temperature seem to explain the fluctuating abundance of pilchard and
herring off southwestern England, and climatic change also is the crucial
determinant of the appearance and disappearance of cod in Greenland
waters, there is less certainty regarding the changing fortunes of national
fisheries. In the North Sea, Danish fisheries slumped while Dutch
fisheries boomed in the seventeenth century. Clearly, the evidence on
climatic history needs to be substantiated.
Interdisciplinary work between historians and scientists would go a
long way to illuminate these problems, just as the history of modern
fisheries cannot be written without reference to biological knowledge.
The establishment of national marine biological institutions in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century, and in particular the creation of ICES
in 1903, has greatly facilitated research into fishing history by making
good statistics accessible. However, the interpretation of these statistics
has only just begun and much more work is needed to overcome the
standard explanations which mar not only historical understanding but
also common-sense assumptions about fishery regulations.
Moreover, basic questions such as the economic impact of the
fisheries need much more work. While the immediate output of the
fishing industry is measurable, we know very little about the derived
economic importance of the fishing sector, such as how many jobs on
land are created by one fisherman at sea. In an age when the number of
fishermen is rapidly shrinking and thus reducing the importance of
fishermen as a political constituency, their importance for the national
economy is all too easily neglected.
Regional variations in overall trends are apparent from the studies
presented in this volumes. One striking case is the tenacity with which
the British Westcountrymen developed their fishery off the coast of
Newfoundland, when Continental and British fisheries in the North Sea
were contracting steadily in the latter half of the seventeenth century.
The factors underlying Britain’s successful exploitation of the
Newfoundland fishery are not fully understood and require further
research into the supply of capital and the significance of political
interest.
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