Fish has played a critical role in the lives of Europeans throughout the centuries, if not millennia. As far back as 100,000 years ago, inhabitants of the continent were catching fish in the rivers, lakes, and seas. Because it was easy to obtain, abundant, and inexpensive, fish eventually came to be regarded as a „poor man\u2019s food“. Since the Middle Ages, fish has also been of great importance as a food for religious fasting: during fasting periods \u2013 that is, for 180 to 200 days per year \u2013 eating meat was banned in Europe\u2019s Catholic regions, which led to a massive increase in fish consumption. Fish became a valuable resource, and fishing developed into a lucrative industry.<\/p>\n
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Lucas van Valckenborch (1535\u20131597): Meat and Fish Market (Winter), after 1595 \u00a9 Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin<\/p><\/div>\n
Scandinavia: Land of Fish<\/h3>\n
Due to their particularly favourable conditions, the seas of Northern Europe are teeming with fish, even today, an asset for which the region is famous. Many Europeans spend their summer holidays in Norway feasting blissfully on giant, plentiful, ridiculously easy-to-catch salmon. Scandinavian herring \u2013 the shoals of which were so massive that they became the stuff of legend \u2013 was referred to as the „Silver of the Sea“ in written sources dating from the early modern era. Around that time, Swedish bishop Olaus Magnus (1490\u20131557) was documenting the almost unimaginably vast fishing grounds surrounding Scandinavia; later, in „A Description of the Northern Peoples“, he reported on the various fishing methods and characteristics of several species of fish, his descriptions accompanied by numerous woodcuts. Most of our knowledge about Northern European fishing from this period comes from his accounts.<\/p>\n
From Stockfish to Cod Wars<\/h3>\n
Freshly caught fish must be preserved before it can be transported inland to be sold. Preservation methods in Europe vary widely from region to region depending on geographical conditions, and over time, three practices emerged as some of the most effective: salting, air-drying, and smoking.<\/p>\n
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Olaus Magnus (1490\u20131557): Wood engraving \u00bbOf salted, dried and smoked fish\u00ab, Rome, 1555 \u00a9 Nasjonalbiblioteket, Oslo<\/p><\/div>\n
The methods used to produce \u201cstockfish\u201d in particular \u2013 that is, air-dried cod, but also haddock, pollock, and ling \u2013 have remained unchanged on Norway\u2019s Lofoten Islands since the eighth century. To make stockfish, pairs of fish were bound together by their tail fins and hung from a wooden frame (known as a stokk in Norwegian). The climate of the Lofoten Islands, which offered stable atmospheric conditions with constant temperatures and sufficient sunshine and wind, was ideally suited for this preservation technique.<\/p>\n
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Cod being dried to make stockfish, 1924 \u00a9 The Norwegian Fisheries Museum, Bergen<\/p><\/div>\n
The stockfish production process lasted several weeks, after which the air-dried fish had a shelf life of up to five years. Stockfish could be stacked, making transport economical. As it was seen as a nutritious food for long voyages, stockfish was especially beloved by the Vikings, who devoured great quantities of it. And then there were the members of the Hanseatic League, who \u2013 upon recognizing the commercial value of stockfish\u00a0\u2013 obtained the royal monopoly on the trade and shipped dried fish from the Norwegian port city of Bergen to cities and towns all over Europe.<\/p>\n
The importance of fishing, both as a means of obtaining food and as an economic resource, is evidenced by the conflicts that have broken out over fishing grounds from time to time. A notable recent example is the „Cod Wars“ of the second half of the 20th century. Between 1958 and 1975, a series of disputes arose between Iceland and the United Kingdom over Iceland having gradually extended its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) \u2013 a national fishing boundary that excludes foreign fishermen \u2013 from 4 to 200 nautical miles. Since December 1982, when the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea took place, a 200-nautical-mile EEZ has been internationally recognised for all nations, not just for Iceland. As a result, fishing grounds around the world have steadily expanded.<\/p>\n
The Not-So-Distant Future of Global Fish Stocks: Will Plastic Waste Overtake Fish?<\/h3>\n
Increasingly, fish are suffering from habitat loss; what\u2019s more, humans now have the ability to completely deplete all of the oceans\u2019 stocks of fish, with shoals targeted and tracked down using sonar technology, then pursued. Although the invention of modern fishing technology has played a role in these developments, older methods, such as the use of giant trawls, have also caused long-term destruction to aquatic flora and fauna. In 2013, researchers found that 31 percent of the world\u2019s saltwater fish stocks had been overfished, 58 percent had been completely depleted, and only 10 percent had been fished within the recommended limits.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s marine littering: every day, more and more plastic waste is ending up in the oceans. Scientific studies indicate that by 2050, we\u2019ll have more plastic swimming in our seas than fish. Apart from organic aquaculture, the use of sustainable fishing methods is the only way to ensure that biodiversity and this precious marine resource are preserved for the future.<\/p>\n
![](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Foto-Thomas.jpg\") \n\u00a9 Privat<\/sup><\/td>\n <\/td>\n | \n | Thomas Eisentraut<\/h4>\n |