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

Dekker studied the careers of various masters of whaling vessels.
Innovative, because of its multi-disciplinary approach, was L.
Hacquebord’s dissertation on the first Dutch whaling activities and
settlements on Svalbard in the early seventeenth century. He put the
numbers of vessels involved into the right perspective and proved that
new patterns in whaling had been caused by climatic changes. J.R.
Leinenga has recently analyzed the Dutch ventures in the Davis Strait.
Hacquebord and Leinenga together have further developed the topic of
ecology and climate in relation to early modern whaling. A complete
survey of the historiography of Dutch whaling—with all the relevant
titles—is available in Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis vol. XIII (1994)
19-40.
Periodisation
Historians cannot live without periodisation. It is obvious that the herring
fishery, which has always been the most important branch of the Dutch
fisheries, has to be the starting point for such an exercise. From the end
of the fifteenth century Holland surpassed Flanders and remained the
unquestioned leader in this respect. The peak of the herring business was
reached in c1630 with 500 to 600 vessels operating annually. Later in the
seventeenth century a slow decline began, resulting in a reduction of the
herring fleet to 150-200 vessels in the latter half of the eighteenth
century, and a further shrinkage during the so-called French period
around 1800. The recovery was limited indeed, the lowest ebb occurring
around 1850. From then on an upward trend was evident. The next peak
was reached on the eve of World War I when 776 herring vessels were
registered at Vlaardingen, Maassluis, Scheveningen and Katwijk. The
total sea-going fishing fleet in 1914 comprised 1,335 vessels. 184
Thus the herring fishery can be divided into the following periods:
late fifteenth century-mid seventeenth century, c1650-1850 and
1850-1914. A complex assortment of reasons caused the decline in the
early modern period, while the upsurge in the nineteenth century finds its
main explanation in liberal legislation. A division line after 1850/60
would also be in accordance with developments in the other fisheries.
For many a fisherman in Scheveningen and Katwijk, relieved of formal
and strict prohibitions from 1857, after a while switched over to salt
herring fishery.
184 Gouda, De Nederlandse zeevisserij, 18.
110