The North Atlantic Fish Revolution, c. AD 1500

PUBLISHED We propose the concept of the ?Fish Revolution? to demarcate the dramatic increase in North Atlantic fisheries after AD 1500, which led to a 15-fold increase of cod (Gadus morhua) catch volumes and likely a tripling of fish protein to the European market. We consider three key questions: (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Research
Main Authors: Holm, Poul, Ludlow, Francis, Scherer, Cordula, Travis, Charles, HAYES, PATRICK, Rankin, Kieran, Breen, Richard, Legg, Robert, Nicholls, John
Other Authors: European Research Council (ERC), 669461
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
North Atlantic
Fish revolution
Climate change
Settlements
Market integration
Early modern history
Smart & Sustainable Planet
Environmental Humanities
History
Gadus morhua
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2262/91397
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/north-atlantic-fish-revolution-ca-ad-1500/477C3FDE9C0FBB8F09828DCF71DDDC46
http://people.tcd.ie/holmp
http://people.tcd.ie/rlegg
http://people.tcd.ie/krankin
http://people.tcd.ie/nichollj
http://people.tcd.ie/fludlow
http://people.tcd.ie/breenri
http://people.tcd.ie/cscherer
http://people.tcd.ie/ctravis
http://people.tcd.ie/hayesp6
https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2018.153
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Summary:PUBLISHED We propose the concept of the ?Fish Revolution? to demarcate the dramatic increase in North Atlantic fisheries after AD 1500, which led to a 15-fold increase of cod (Gadus morhua) catch volumes and likely a tripling of fish protein to the European market. We consider three key questions: (1) What were the environmental parameters of the Fish Revolution? (2) What were the globalising effects of the Fish Revolution? (3) What were the consequences of the Fish Revolution for fishing communities? While these questions would have been considered unknowable a decade or two ago, methodological developments in marine environmental history and historical ecology have moved information about both supply and demand into the realm of the discernible. Although much research remains to be done, we conclude that this was a major event in the history of resource extraction from the sea, mediated by forces of climate change and globalisation, and is likely to provide a fruitful agenda for future multidisciplinary research. We propose the concept of the “Fish Revolution” to demarcate the dramatic increase in North Atlantic fisheries after AD 1500, which led to a 15-fold increase of cod (Gadus morhua) catch volumes and likely a tripling of fish protein to the European market. We consider three key questions: (1) What were the environmental parameters of the Fish Revolution? (2) What were the globalising effects of the Fish Revolution? (3) What were the consequences of the Fish Revolution for fishing communities? While these questions would have been considered unknowable a decade or two ago, methodological developments in marine environmental history and historical ecology have moved information about both supply and demand into the realm of the discernible. Although much research remains to be done, we conclude that this was a major event in the history of resource extraction from the sea, mediated by forces of climate change and globalisation, and is likely to provide a fruitful agenda for future multidisciplinary ...

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