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The increased complexity of state management, following a rapid territorial expansion, pushed the Ur III administration (2112–2004 BC) to integrate the production and redistribution network with commodities and food providers which have been previously handled at a limited local scale. Fish and fishermen were among them. After 30 years since Robert Englund's seminal study on Sumerian fisheries, new evidence provided by the northern provinces of the realm and newly edited textual sources encouraged a reconsideration of the data. The present contribution aims at quantifying the actual circulation of fish through the analysis of its distribution pattern, as well as at identifying possible fishing grounds and processing centres. Further, fishermen's participation to the institutional economy will be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the turn of the sixteenth century, John Cabot and his successors discovered abundant fish stocks in the north west Atlantic waters near Newfoundland. This article accounts for how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century mapping provide another strand of evidence that supplement our knowledge of the subsequent Iberian, French, and British fisheries. Such cartography exhibited significant mutations and innovations in rendering fishing locations, and illustrating fishing practices and fish species. Fishermen's knowledge must have informed such mapping. The innovation of hydrographical indicators in esthetically appealing maps recognized from an early stage the status of the Grand Banks as a globally important feature of submarine topography. More refined and accurate delineations of its submarine plateaus and other adjacent continental shelves closely followed the development of fishing activities, encompassing both Newfoundland's nearshore and the Grand Banks themselves. Furthermore, such cartography reflected transformative and reciprocal relationships with commerce and inter-state politics across the North Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a socio‐historical study of the Prud'homie de pêche (the "Prud'homie"), a common‐pool institution ("CPI") that has managed the fishery commons at Marseille since the Middle Ages. The evidence presented here sheds light on specific challenges faced by the Prud'homie during the early stages of globalization: one challenge is the import of a new fishing technique (the madrague) in the early 17th century, and another challenge is the arrival of migrant fishermen from Catalonia throughout the 18th century. On this basis, this paper explores the ways in which globalization has impacted the Prud'homie and identifies the mechanisms through which these challenges might threaten the functioning of CPIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the cross-cultural histories that developed around the bay whale fisheries of the Tasman World (Australia and New Zealand) in the early nineteenth century. Using new insights about whale culture from marine biology and data gleaned from whaling logs, it posits that changing right whale cultures significantly influenced the ways that Aboriginals and Māori participated in the industry, and thus deeply shaped colonial histories there. This case study presents evidence that historians need to consider animal cultures as important parts of human histories and that doing so can provide unexpected answers to large historical questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the arrival of Pilgrims in 1620, Morone saxatilis (Striped Bass) has been an important commercial fish species for residents of Massachusetts. Early attempts by the Plymouth Colony to develop fishery commerce by selling Striped Bass products to Spain failed. Viable domestic markets for Striped Bass were established by the 18th century and continue to present day. Application of laws to control the commercial harvest of Striped Bass to address local declines in abundance first appeared in the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves in the late 18th century, and most laws restricted the taking of Striped Bass by seines. In 1945, a temporary Massachusetts law prohibiting the taking of Striped Bass by any method other than hook-and-line was made permanent. More-restrictive size and quota regulations were not imposed until the early 1980s as inter-state conservation efforts responded to the declining trends in coastal stocks. In present day, the Striped Bass commercial fishery in Massachusetts is regulated by minimum size and quotas established under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Striped Bass Management Plan and by state no-take days and daily bag limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gulf of California (GC) is one of the most historically important regions in Mexico for shark fisheries. However, detailed historical shark landings are not available, making it difficult to plan adequate management strategies. This study analyses historical trends in GC shark fishery landings in a data-poor environment to establish a baseline for future research and assessments. The total shark landings for the artisanal fishery from 1939 to 2014, middle-size vessel fishery landings for the 1988–2014, and species composition from 1960 to 2014 were estimated, and we assessed the uncertainty inherent in the data sources and subsequent analyses. Thirty-eight shark species were identified in the GC artisanal fishery, of which Mustelus spp., Sphyrna lewini , Rhizoprionodon longurio, Squatina californica, Carcharhinus falciformis, Sphyrna zygaena, and Carcharhinus limbatus were the taxa with the greatest landings. A noticeable decline in landings was observed for Carcharhinus leucas, Nasolamia velox, Negaprion brevirostris, Sphyrna spp. , Carcharhinus altimus, Carcharhinus obscurus, Galeocerdo cuvier, Carcharhinus porosus, Triakis semifasciata, and Carcharhinus brachyurus . Landings of the pelagic sharks Prionace glauca, Alopias pelagicus, and Isurus oxyrinchu s increased after 1986, mainly due to the development of the middle-size vessel fishery. The history of GC shark fisheries and implications for management of sustainable shark fisheries are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Length-weight relationships are presented for 9 commercial fish species from Psara Island (North Aegean Sea). The species studied are Boops boops, Dentex maroccanus, Helicolenus dactylopterus, Merluccius merluccius, Mullus surmuletus, Pagrus pagrus, Raja clavata, Scyliorhinus canicula and Trachurus picturatus. To our knowledge, there are no published data on the fish stocks of the study area. Estimates of LWR parameters are provided for Dentex maroccanus, Trachurus picturatus and Helicolenus dactylopterus, for which reliable LWR datasets are few in the literature, while none has been published for the Greek seas. The samples were collected from the continental shelf and the upper slope, by using non-selective fishing gear (with a research vessel and a commercial bottom trawler), during two seasonal sampling periods: November 2009 and May 2010. The growth pattern of Boops boops and Scyliorhinus canicula was found to be positive allometric, whereas an isometric growth pattern was determined for the other species in the study. We hope that the LWR obtained here will be used in future fisheries management or conservation research in the study area, for example, to convert lengths to weights, determine fish condition and assess spatial or temporal variability in fish growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic information collected by the authors on former star use along the Arabian Sea coast of Oman is presented and discussed. Although the stars were not observed directly, some were identified from detailed descriptions and astronomy software. Many are associated with winds warning of danger at sea, a few to tell the direction, and others to note productive fishing periods. Not all stars in the full-year calendars prepared by others had practical applications. To clarify the issues raised, it will be necessary to spend more time in the fishing settlements, where possible watching stars with people who still remember them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During archaeological excavations in central Tallinn, Estonia, many fish bones were collected among other archaeological finds. As these were salvage excavations conducted under limited time and cost restraints, only a very small part of the removed soil could be examined for fish bones. In such hasty conditions, the only option was to take soil samples from selected areas and carry out water sieving in the laboratory. This procedure resulted in the recovery of a variety of fish remains. Also, a previous conclusion that only large fish were captured is re-evaluated. This paper focuses on two recently excavated medieval sites in Tallinn: Tartu Road 1 and Vabaduse Square. In Vabaduse Square, a Late Neolithic settlement was also discovered under the medieval layers. The analysis of the three different assemblages of fish bones from the two sites, which were collected by somewhat different methods, contributes to our knowledge on fishing and fish consumption in Tallinn's past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glassow's (2015) synthesis of "red abalone middens" on California's Santa Cruz Island does not include the broader geographic, chronologic, and ecological context to this phenomenon. We explore the wider distribution of these site types and emphasize their importance for addressing modern fisheries management issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2007, the biomass of sardine and anchovy in the NW Mediterranean has remained persistently low, whereas the biomass of the commercially low-valued sprat has exploded. Also, simultaneous decreases in condition, size, and/or age of these populations were observed. Altogether, this resulted in a drop in landings of small pelagics. To understand the amplitude of these events and to provide a baseline scenario against which current changes can be compared, we compiled exceptionally long landing series (1865-2013) of sardine, anchovy, and mackerel for different subregions of the southern French coast. We characterized the fluctuations of these landings and compared these with environmental drivers (sea surface temperature, Rhône river discharge, North Atlantic Oscillation, Western Mediterranean Oscillation—WeMO, and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation—AMO), using different time-series analyses. We also collated historical data to infer qualitative changes in fishing effort over time. A fishing effort related increase in landings was observed around 1962 for all three species, although current sardine landings have dropped below levels observed before this period. Sardine and anchovy landings were, respectively, positively and negatively related to the AMO index and anchovy landings were also positively related to the WeMO. We finished by discussing the potential role of the environmental variables and fishing on long-term fishery landings trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For no less than 300 years, c. 1550–1860 the Dutch way of fishing was the envy of neighbours in the North Sea area and looked upon as the undisputed best practice. However, it turned out that the perception of the Dutch Golden Age of fishing outlived the reality by at least 150 years. This paper explores the consequences of the image of Dutch dominance, as seen through 41 different attempts to build a fleet and run fishing operations similar to the Dutch. Most of them were short-lived, and some never made it to the fishing grounds before going bankrupt. When reviewed one by one, they all have unique reasons for lacklustre performances. Privateering, warfare, bankruptcy, and bad fishing luck are all valid explanations at the level of politics and short-term events. However, when looked upon in connection to each other, some recurrent features of more-or-less sound policies appear, as well as structural, social, and natural conditions for varying degrees of success and failure. Two waves of imitation emerge from this comparison. In the mid-1600s and then again during the 1760s–1770s there was a particularly strong Europe-wide interest in emulating Dutch fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relationship between the sea and human populations in the Maya world during Prehispanic times is well supported through iconographic and ethnohistoric evidence. The nature and importance of fish resource exploitation, however, during the most important period of Maya history, the Classic Period (AD 250–900), remains largely unknown. Xcambó (AD 250–750) was an important commercial port located in the north coast of the Yucatán peninsula. According to ichthyoarchaeological results presented here, fishes such as requiem sharks (Carcharhinussp.), Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizopronodion terraenovae), snooks (Centropomussp.) and hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis) were an important part of the diet of the ancient Maya. Although it has been proposed that marine resources, including fishes, could have been traded and transported from coastal to inland localities, evidence from Xcambó regarding such practices remains indeterminate. Most likely, other species could have been salted and traded. Evidence for such activities has not been yet recovered at Xcambó. Results achieved so far indicate that there was a strong influence of fish fauna from nearby, suggesting that fishing in Xcambó was a local subsistence activity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Autarkic ideology and economic policies were central features of the interwar period in Europe. Despite autarky's connection to geographical concepts such as space, resources and population, its historical impact has been relatively little explored in the literature. In this article, we first present how the concept of ‘autarky’ conflates two etymological meanings: self-sufficiency and authoritarianism. We then explore this duality, using archival sources, by examining the social and economic policies applied to the fishing sector in Francoist Spain between 1939 and 1951. On the one hand, we examine the repression and transformation of the fishers' social world. On the other, we study the impact of public policies on the marine fishing fleet, underlining the importance of the militaristic guidelines that shaped the reforms. We argue that these autarkic reforms have had long-term consequences that are still visible today. They represented a rupture for the associative environment of fishers and shaped the future characteristics of the fleet, as well as its pattern of geographical expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, to compensate for declining catches, fishers have usually shifted from species characterized by high catch rate onto less easily caught species or have moved into new fishing grounds. Such shifts are poorly documented for areas with a long history of exploitation (i.e. North Sea) as they occurred long time before the start of the regular assessments of the marine resources. The Swedish longline fisheries in the Kattegat-Skagerrak and North Sea have a long history that spans over several centuries. These fisheries have historically targeted large demersal predator fish as ling ( Molva molva), cod ( Gadus morhua), Atlantic halibut ( Hippoglossus hippoglossus) and skates (mainly Dipturus spp.). In this study, data from the Swedish longline fisheries from 1859 to 1960 have been collated. The data show that the geographical expansion of the fishery was extensive. At the turn of the 20th century, offshore longlining became concentrated north and west of the Shetlands and Hebrides, and after the WWII, the fishery expanded to Iceland and Rockall. In the offshore fishery, CPUE for the main target species, ling, remained stable, whereas for the other species, with the exception of tusk ( Brosme brosme), CPUE showed a dramatic decline over time. In contrast, in the coastal longlining fishery, severe declines were revealed for all major target species except cod. We argue that the constant search for new fishing grounds in the Northeast Atlantic reflects a dwindling resource, where the fishermen kept the catch rates of ling high by travelling to more and more distant fishing grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes changing patterns of commercial fish catch in the downstream part of the Neva River and the eastern Gulf of Finland and analyzes drivers of these changes for the period 1929-1995. We summarize catch data on 20 species and species groups of fishes and lamprey, as well as available abiotic data (salinity, temperature and water transparency). Water transparency gradually decreased during the 20th century being inseparable from a number of non-quantified anthropogenic factors, thus it can be used as an integral index of anthropogenic loading on the ecosystem. Because fisheries statistics were not published regularly, catch data were extracted from archives and various publications. Fishing locations, gear and target species changed over time in relation to each other, reflecting technological developments in fisheries, commercial demands for fishery products and the abundance of fish populations. Until the 18-19th centuries, fisheries took place mostly in rivers where weirs and set nets targeted sturgeon, salmon and whitefish. By the end of the 19th century, herring and smelt were the main targets of fixed nets in coastal areas. A century later, the main commercial species, herring, was harvested with pelagic trawls operating offshore in the Gulf. This evolution in fisheries, along with other anthropogenic activities, caused severe declines in diadromous species. Spawning migrations that make them easy to catch, and their high market value, make diadromous fish more vulnerable than other groups. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that catches of most diadromous species decreased with increasing transparency, which may reflect their response to anthropogenic pressure. Marine and freshwater fish suffered from anthropogenic pressure, but to a lesser extent probably because of a wider distribution and dispersal, and more capital-intensive fishing methods. Catches of marine species, except herring, significantly increased in the 1970-1980s when salinity was comparatively high. We found no correlation of fish catches with temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Velikaya River is the principal river flowing into the southern part of Lake Peipus, which is situated in the basin of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. Lake Peipus is one of the largest and most productive freshwater bodies in Europe. An important population center in ancient Russia, the town of Pskov sits on the downstream part of the Velikaya. Here fisheries resources have been exploited for millennia. Local archaeological materials and historical documents provide unique opportunities for examining the historical ecology of this river and lake ecosystem. This study describes millennium-long changes in fish populations in the Velikaya River and Lake Peipus and discovers the factors responsible for them. We analyzed 5,981 fish remains dating from the 4th to the 18th centuries collected at two archaeological sites in Pskov and its surroundings. During this 1500-year period, three species predominated: pike, perch and bream together composed about three-quarters of identified bone elements. Fish sizes estimated from bone remains showed that target species, particularly bream and perch, tended to be larger before 1800 than in 20th century landings. Catch composition also changed over this long period, with increased contribution from smaller species such as whitebait, ruffe and vendace, especially in the 20th century. The main driver of the observed changes was fishing, with other human-induced factors and climate change being less important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the archetypal use of the fish as a religious symbol of faith as reflected in the pamphlet titled "A Most Strange and Wonderfull Herring," published by John Wolfe in 1598. It is argued that the pamphlet is part of a large body of literature about apparitions and the need to reform, which are published in Europe during the late 16th century. The role of the pamphlet in the English fishing industry and the dispute between Great Yarmouth and town of Lowestoft in 1595.

The article discusses the history of German research on krill from the late 1960s to the early 1980s in the context of international research in the Antarctic region. The author particularly highlights the role of scientific knowledge in international relations, particularly with regard to economic and environmental questions. Topics examined include the history of marine fisheries, the effect of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the fishing industry, and debates about the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Research by an organic chemist at the University of Melbourne and support from Australia's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research provided the basis for a wartime industry when Australia was unable to maintain access to traditional supplies of cod liver oil from Britain and Norway in the 1940s. Two major pharmaceutical companies gathered oil from the livers of sharks in southern Australia that was rich in vitamin A, and so met domestic and military needs for this nutritional supplement. Other companies joined in and by the end of the war Australia had a flourishing industry that derived synergy from the marketing of shark flesh for human consumption. South Africa was a leader among countries that expanded fish-oil production in the late 1940s, as a result of which Australian producers suffered from import competition. A Tariff Board hearing found that the Australian industry was unable to meet local needs and so did not recommend increased tariffs. The industry struggled for years until the perceived nutritional benefits of other components of the fish oils helped to revive markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past century, commercial fisheries have expanded from small vessels fishing in shallow, coastal habitats to a broad suite of vessels and gears that fish virtually every marine habitat on the globe. Understanding how fisheries have developed in space and time is critical for interpreting and managing the response of ecosystems to the effects of fishing, however time series of spatially explicit data are typically rare. Recently, the 1933–1968 portion of the commercial catch dataset from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was recovered and digitized, completing the full historical series for both commercial and recreational datasets from 1933–2010. These unique datasets include landing estimates at a coarse 10 by 10 minute “grid-block” spatial resolution and extends the entire length of coastal California up to 180 kilometers from shore. In this study, we focus on the catch history of groundfish which were mapped for each grid-block using the year at 50% cumulative catch and total historical catch per habitat area. We then constructed generalized linear models to quantify the relationship between spatiotemporal trends in groundfish catches, distance from ports, depth, percentage of days with wind speed over 15 knots, SST and ocean productivity. Our results indicate that over the history of these fisheries, catches have taken place in increasingly deeper habitat, at a greater distance from ports, and in increasingly inclement weather conditions. Understanding spatial development of groundfish fisheries and catches in California are critical for improving population models and for evaluating whether implicit stock assessment model assumptions of relative homogeneity of fisheries removals over time and space are reasonable. This newly reconstructed catch dataset and analysis provides a comprehensive appreciation for the development of groundfish fisheries with respect to commonly assumed trends of global fisheries patterns that are typically constrained by a lack of long-term spatial datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a literature review of the topics of whaling, fisheries, and maritime environmental history, outlining the journal's coverage of the subjects over its past 25 years of publication. Attention is also given to the topics as addressed within the journal's publication reviews columns. Articles cited include works by maritime scholars and historians Anthony B. Dickinson, Malcolm Tull, and Ingo Heidbrink.

The article discusses the economic and social impact of coastal flooding in eastern England, focusing on human responses to flooding in the later Middle Ages. Topics include the impact of flooding on agricultural, fishing, milling, and peat-digging businesses, population declines, and economic conditions. Inter-tidal lands, embankment reclamation, and storms in the 1200s are mentioned. The wetlands of England, and their use for agricultural development and other purposes throughout history, are described.

Copyright of Journal of Integrated Coastal Zone Management / Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada is the property of Associacao Portuguesa dos Recursos Hidricos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the particular nature of Icelandic capitalism as it emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing on a recent project investigating the material processes surrounding the rise and fall of an early capitalist venture in the fishing industry, the role of commodities and their intersection with issues of colonialism and nationalism is explored. The study centers on a village community established in 1907 on an island in the bay of Reykjavík, which saw two periods of boom and bust in its short life before the village was abandoned in 1943. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1550 and 1750 Scarborough’s maritime shipping trade moved from a period of decline to relative prosperity. At the turn of the eighteenth century 11 per cent of the east coast colliers were connected with Scarborough. In the early to mid eighteenth century, Scarborough was the leading collier-owning port in England. This was achieved, in part, through people in the marine trades and shipbuilders securing control of the corporation. At the same time the corporation passed by-laws that supported shipbuilding. The town also adopted new forms of ship design and secured naval contracts. Ownership of vessels tended to be complex with few if any individuals owning a shipping vessel outright. Some shipwrights owned parts of as many as forty-five different vessels. The shipment of coal both along the coast and overseas was at the core of the town’s maritime shipping trade. Overseas shipments outwards were dominated by the coal trade to Amsterdam and other ports in Holland. Overseas inwards shipments were mainly timber, cloth and building materials, with Norway, Rotterdam and Amsterdam being the main ports of shipment. The catching and processing of fish and fish products were also important to the town. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Histórica (02528894) is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Maritime History is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An essay is presented on the role of Japanese immigrants in the development of fisheries in Hawai'i during the early 20th century. Particular focus is given to of ethnic and racial tensions between Japanese, native Hawaiian, and white participants in the fisheries industry. Fishing companies, which according to the author played a large role in the success of Japanese fishing activities including the financing of Japanese fishermen and fleets, are also discussed.

In 1965 Memorial University recruited the young historian Keith Matthews, hoping he would both conduct research on the West of England–Newfoundland fishery and collect archival material for the university. He fulfilled this dual mandate, and his work was an important part of an important historiographic shift. Matthews's break with a 175-year-old interpretation was marked by a highly original essay, ‘Historical Fence Building,’ which subsequent historians have read back into his 1968 thesis. This essay examines his training and the context at Memorial that shaped his career, arguing that because of the persuasiveness of Matthews's later historiographic critique the continuity between his thesis and earlier works is greater than is often recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides an analytical review of the development of distant water fisheries and the implementation of vessel monitoring systems (VMS) in Taiwan. Taiwanese distant water fisheries have gone through several stages in development: rebirth from the damage of World War II up until the early 1970s, stagnation during the mid-1970s to early 1980s, unbridled growth in the late 1980s to a peak in the 1990s–early 2000s, and a stage of disruption and transformation since the mid-2000s. There were two major fisheries in this stage: tuna and squid, both of which rank between the world''s first and third largest. Development was mainly driven by national promotion programs and vessel-building restricting policies; and international influences such as oil crises, declaration of exclusive economic zones, and legal arrangements that stimulated strengthening of international management measures. Growth in Taiwan''s over-developed fisheries has outpaced the incommensurately scaled Taiwanese fisheries management sector that has not expanded in parallel with the fisheries. Monitoring of vessel activities remains a major management issue. VMS, which can provide both national and international bodies with an essential monitoring capability for ensuring resource management, was found to be one of the important solutions to this issue. The system, however, was initially unacceptable to the fishers, and the government has transformed external pressures arising from international arrangements and management measures into a force for promoting installation of VMS on Taiwanese fishing vessels. This has occurred in stages: a trial period during 1989–1992; initial development during 1994–1996; expansion during 1996–2004; and a more mature stage of enhanced implementation from 2005 to the present. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper assesses the potentials of the available time series (50 years+) from historical records of the pre-industrial period until c. 1850–1950. A number of historical records from commercially important fish species are available for examining natural variability of fish stocks. Especially for North Atlantic and Japanese fisheries historical data have been retrieved from archives and museums, which cover time spans of 50–350 years. This makes it possible to examine natural variability of fish stocks over a much longer time span than what is normally possible with modern survey data and commercial catch data. Furthermore, historical evidence from the pre-industrialized period have the benefit of stemming from a period in time, when fishing had an insignificant impact on the abundance of open sea fish stocks. The best material comes from cod and herring fisheries, where it is possible to reconstruct CPUE as accurate as catch per boat per day absent, as well as changing spatial distribution over longer time periods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Radovi Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zaru is the property of Zavod za Povijesne Znanosti HAZU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper focuses on the emergence in the 20th century of a fishing industry based on northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. Development in these countries exhibited noteworthy common features that are examined and compared in this paper, which emphasizes the intellectual, political and industrial conditions that facilitated the expansion of the fishing fleets and processing industries. The diffusion of knowledge and technology was a necessary condition for the industry's establishment, both at a national and an inter-Nordic level. Central to these transfers of knowledge was the interaction between scientists and fisheries experts and fishermen and industrialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the Piedmont region in Italy, with a focus on the agricultural colony of Calasetta during the period from 1773 to 1781. Topics discussed include background on the annexation of the Sardegna region into the area ruled by the house of Savoy in 1720, with reference to the population absorbed in ratio to the land absorbed; the reorganization of the area under the control of the house of Savoy, including the fisheries industry; and the history of the Tabarchini people who inhabited the area of Calasetta.

Evidence for severe declines in large predatory fishes is increasing around the world. Because of its long history of intense fishing, the Mediterranean Sea offers a unique perspective on fish population declines over historical timescales. We used a diverse set of records dating back to the early 19th and mid 20th century to reconstruct long-term population trends of large predatory sharks in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. We compiled 9 time series of abundance indices from commercial and recreational fishery landings, scientific surveys, and sighting records. Generalized linear models were used to extract instantaneous rates of change from each data set, and a meta-analysis was conducted to compare population trends. Only 5 of the 20 species we considered had sufficient records for analysis. Hammerhead (Sphyrna spp.), blue (Prionace glauca ), mackerel (Isurus oxyrinchus and Lamna nasus ), and thresher sharks (Alopias vulpinus ) declined between 96 and 99.99% relative to their former abundance. According to World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria, these species would be considered critically endangered. So far, the lack of quantitative population assessments has impeded shark conservation in the Mediterranean Sea. Our study fills this critical information gap, suggesting that current levels of exploitation put large sharks at risk of extinction in the Mediterranean Sea. Possible ecosystem effects of these losses involve a disruption of top-down control and a release of midlevel consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on detecting the fisheries-induced life-history evolution. It focuses on the practical aspects of reaction-norm analysis of fisheries-caused evolution. There are two research challenges which include the phenotypic changes in fish and do not involve genetic change because the life-history traits are phenotypically plastic and of the fishing acts as a factor of contemporary evolution. It describes the unwinding of genetic and plastic effects without genetic data. It also explains how maturation reaction norms help unwind genetic and plastic changes in age and size of fish at maturation. Life-history theory suggests the changes in traits as the occurrence of fisheries-induced evolution.

This article examines the history of fishing policy in West Galway, Ireland, between 1923-1932. The Irish government, known as Cumann na nGaedheal, initially mismanaged the under utilized resource. However, by 1929 issues of loan debts and lack of markets were being addressed. The author is critical of the government for being inactive for so long.

Abstract: Catches of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, recorded in historical documents from the 17–18th Centuries have been analysed in four locations in the basins of the White and Barents Seas. Atlantic salmon was one of the most valuable products of the local economy in the 17–18th Centuries in the northern Russia. Therefore, catches were well recorded in the account books of state departments and monasteries. Salmon were fished mostly in the lower parts of rivers, using weirs which technologically were not changed over the centuries. This makes fishing effort commensurable and allows comparison of historical catch data of the 17–18th Centuries with statistical data available since the last quarter of the 19th Century. Notable fluctuations of catches, average weight and ratio of different seasonal forms of salmon were revealed. Decreasing catches tended to coincide with relatively colder periods. Comparison of historical and statistical data has shown that catches Atlantic salmon and therefore changes in size of their populations were most probably driven by natural factors before middle of the 20th Century. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The current problems involving Spain's oversized fishing fleet are explained by the growth of the fleet throughout the 20th Century. This article reviews the birth and development of Spain's distant-water fishing fleet that led to it becoming one of the world's largest fleets, albeit a fleet now devoid of fishing grounds, following the implementation throughout the world of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the First World War, Vilhelm Bjerknes and his colleagues in Bergen established their so-called front meteorology. With their new concepts and models they "appropriated" the weather - to use Robert Marc Friedman's expression - for physics and for Norwegian science. A regular weather forecasting service was established at the same time for the whole of the Norwegian coast, and fishermen soon became the meteorologists' primary allies in their struggle for state support and resources. This article examines how the alliance was established, how weather forecasting was "appropriated" by the coastal population, particularly in the north, and what difference this made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One consequence of the industrial revolution was to make fishermen much more effective and efficient Nowhere was this change in situation more stark than in the North Sea, which the British trawler fleet came to dominate during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Much of modem fisheries policy can be traced to this period and this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the historical exhibitions `Visualizing the Blues: Images of the American South, 1862-2000' and `Fish for All: Perspective on the History of Lake Michigan Fisheries Management and Policy.'

The article discusses the study on adopting an ecosystem rebuilding that will help fisheries exist 50 years in the future alongside important services provided by marine ecosystems. It states the use of reconstructed past ecosystem models that use information about the presence and abundance of species from historical documents. It mentions the practical management measures and implementation of no-take marine reserves and reintroduction of high-value species that were endemic.