Fisheries

Summary

ABSTRACT.Sea fishing provides a rich source of protein, but requires access to suitable sea areas and mastery of appropriate technology. Societies with sufficient protein sources on land have not needed to develop fisheries. Commercial fishing requires means of preservation; initially salt. Later, railways allowed fresh fish to be sold to large inland markets, while canning and freezing extended the technologies of preservation.

RÉSUMÉ.Les poissons d'eau de mer sont une excellente source de protéines, mais leur pêche nécessite l'accès à des zones maritimes particulières et la maîtrise d'une technologie adaptée. Les sociétés qui possèdent suffisamment de sources terrestres en protéines n'ont pas eu besoin de développer la pêche. À des fins commerciales, celle-ci exige des moyens de conservation, dont le premier exemple fut le sel. Par la suite, le transport ferroviaire rendit possible la vente de poissons frais dans les grands marchés de l'intérieur des terres tandis que la mise en boîte et la congélation élargirent les techniques de conservation.

With an annual global fish consumption of 17.0kg per capita, fisheries and aquaculture today provide about 20% of protein consumed, but fish consumption is not evenly distributed around the globe, with some regions consuming as much as 90kg a year per capita, and others close to nil. While it is obvious why coastal nations eat more sea fish than landlocked countries do, it is less obvious why certain nations more or less without a coast developed intensive fisheries too. This raises the question of whether geography alone was the main factor in the development of fisheries. It also needs to be asked why nations with short coastlines but large agricultural areas built up fisheries. The pattern of fish consumption is a matter of scientific analysis, since fish are by no means evenly distributed throughout the oceans, and certain species are better suited for the development of large-scale fisheries than others. To answer the second question we have to assess what difference fishing made and what benefits it offered – which is more challenging. The main reason why certain societies opted to use maritime protein might simply be that the ocean provided a more or less endless supply, while land-based protein sources were more limited.