Ph.D. project by Maibritt Bager (University of Southern Denmark)
Supervisors: Professor Poul Holm
Project period: July 2000 – June 2005 (leave feb 2003-feb 2004)
Background: The history of the Danish salt water fishery in the period between 1570 and 1720 is the history of the decline of a previously rich economic sector. From being the main supplier of fish to the European marked during the Middle Ages, the Danish fishery sector in the 17th century became an industry of minor economic importance, characterised by depression and crisis. The crises in the fishery sector were not an isolated Danish phenomenon, as a similar depression took place in the fisheries in other Scandinavian countries. The background of the crisis was likely multi causal, as both ecological and economic change influenced the fishing sector in a negative direction.
The aim of my Ph.D. project is to study the decline in the fishing industry by analysing changes in effort in the salt water- and fresh water fishery, and by looking at the change in the national distribution pattern of fresh fish and fish products and in the national consumption of fish and fish products in the period. The study is based mainly on an evaluation of the Danish custom- and tax accounts.