A historic view of Baltic fisheries

Ancient history of the use of Baltic fish

The Baltic Sea fishery has a very long history dating back to the Stone Age. Archaeological records show that fishing was conducted along the Baltic coast since well before the Middle Ages. Food caught from the sea was an essential complement to game for the people who settled on the shores of the Baltic soon after the ice had retreated. At present numerous museums around the Baltic tell how hunter-gatherers were able to catch fish with different gear close to shoreline and river-mouths as river spawning fish returned to their spawning grounds. The earliest fishing took place near the coasts and on the islands as settlements spread. Navigation developed along with skills in boat building. Analyses carried out of early dwelling sites suggest that catch consisted of littoral species such as pike, perch, ide and bream together with river spawning species such as salmon and trout.

Baltic fish paid as levies and taxes

Fishing was clearly an important economic and social activity in the Baltic Sea region since at least the 1500s. Its importance is seen in the decision and commitment of local authorities to levy taxes on the most profitable fisheries. Indeed in many instances the taxes were paid in fish, rather than other forms of compensation.

Cod fishery

The Baltic Sea cod fishery has an ancient history. Archaeological studies have found cod bones on Bornholm and in other coastal areas along the Baltic. These finds are from the 6th-7th and 11th centuries AD. Cod has acted in an important role as valuable fish in the Baltic Sea. Cod taxes (i.e., taxes paid as cod) have been levied since at least the 1400s-1500s. The tax accounts of Bornholm and Blekinge 1580-1658 document a large size cod fishery, which took place at the coast of Blekinge. The Danish Crown had a preferential claim on the shore fishery. The custom accounts of Bornholm 1663-1898 and the main export ports of Sealand 1843-1900 include salted, smoked and fresh fish exported from the island. Live cod from Bornholm was brought to the markets in the capital Copenhagen.

For more information, see: MacKenzie et.al 2002.

Baltic herring

The herring fishing with nets developed in the days of the Hansa League, when, caught with nets and subsequently salted, it was an important commodity for trade with southern Europe. Quantifiable herring fisheries existed at least since the late 1500s in the southern Baltic (present-day southern Sweden) when herring fishermen were obliged to pay a tax in herring for permission to fish. Private manor owners in Estonia captured herring in the late 1600s and maintained records of landings. Herring fishing continued into the 1700s and later in Danish/Swedish provinces in the southern Baltic.

Salmonids and sturgeons

Salmon and sea trout were important fish species caught in river mouths of the northern Baltic Sea. The Swedish Crown had a legal rights of salmon and preferential claim on the fishery e.g. in Kalix-, Torneå- Kemi- and Oulu -rivers. There was an active export and import of fish products among towns and countries which stretched throughout and beyond the Baltic. Sturgeons, once common and important in the Baltic Sea and its large rivers, are now extinct from the area.

Modern society spoils fish habitats and cuts fishing opportunities

After the Second World War the rapid development of industrialization and new settlements surrounding the Baltic Sea have had a major influence for Baltic fish species, habitats and fishing opportunities. Pollution and eutrophication have caused destruction of habitats of the species in littoral areas all over the Baltic Sea and has lead to reductions in the reproductive success of many fish populations. In general eutrophication increases fisheries production but it reduces biodiversity. The construction of hydroelectric power stations, reservoirs and regulation in the main Baltic watercourses from the 1940s until the 1960s affected negatively natural reproduction of migratory fish species like salmon, sea trout, migratory whitefish and eel. The natural populations and fishing of these stocks have suffered greatly.

Time between 1950s and 1980s

Although fishing has through times largely been a subsidiary occupation even today there are settlements on the Baltic coast which are specialized in it. The small Baltic fisheries communities and fishing cultures have been gradually vanishing in the name of a more effective society. Between 1950 and 1970 new fishing methods, new nylon net materials, open sea fishery and trawling developed and Baltic catches increased rapidly. The peak in cod fishery was achieved in the middle of the 1980s. Baltic cod stock collapse caused a lot economic difficulties for small fishing communities and fish refining industry in southern Baltic countries during 1990s. Between 1970 and the 1990s the salmon driftnet fishery and fishing with long lines and hooks were developed. Baltic cod, herring, sprat landings in 1910-2000 are described in MacKenzie et al. 2002 (see above figure).

Development of industrial fishing

The number and size of trawlers increased gradually in the Baltic Sea. More effective vessels with different trawling techniques meant less laborious and cost-effective fisheries. Evacuation pumps, sorting machines, refrigeration units and filleting machines helped a lot in handling catch and transporting it to the markets in fresh condition. The number of Baltic fishing vessels and professional fishermen has continuously been decreasing since the 1990s, but more effective gear, bigger trawlers and tankers can easily get and handle bigger catches in the Baltic as ever before.

Read more about commercial fisheries in the Baltic Sea.

 

 

Last updated 4 December 2008