Historical Pond-Breeding of Cyprinids in Sweden and Finland

During a visit to Scania in 1749, Carl Linnaeus observed several large fi sh farms. Common carp and Crucian carp were raised in these ponds. Linnaeus became enthusiastic and sought to persuade the nation to adopt aquaculture in other parts of the country. We consider some interesting reactions to his exhortations, as well as certain measures that were indeed taken in the 1760s to promote fi sh-raising in the rest of Sweden. In 1766, Olof Cederlöf presented a dissertation at Lund University on the subject of carp ponds in Scania. The Swedish Academy of Sciences published articles on fi sh-breeding and the construction of fi sh ponds. The government even tried to promote fi sh-raising through a decree in 1766. But very little came of this, and the fi sh farms at Scanian manors and castles ceased operating by the end of the century.

2016

How were fishponds introduced, farmed and spread in Scandinavia and the Baltic Region in early modern times? What was their economic, social and religious importance? Which fish species were signif ...

to keep a careful record of what he observed, with respect to both private household practices and large-scale economic patterns. He paid particular attention to any innovations which might favour the fatherland. Sweden was poor; and notwithstanding a wide range of efforts, the provision of suffi cient foodstuffs for its people was far from having been reliably secured. Indeed, the consumption of animal products had declined during the eighteenth century, and fi sh made up a markedly smaller proportion of the diet than 200 years earlier. Food crises and famine lurked constantly around the cor-ner. It was the task of the scientists of the time to solve the problem, and Linnaeus was one of those from whom the authorities expected practical advice. He had therefore taken particular pains to study the situation of agriculture, although he also paid due attention to local industries and to private efforts at improving economic life. 1 Among the economic activities Linnaeus observed on hi...

2016

Fishponds in teh Baltic States : Historical Cyprinid Culture in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2000

Background: Fishing is probably one of the oldest economic activities in the history of humankind. Lakes, rivers and streams in Europe are important elements in the European landscape with a rich diversity of fish and other aquatic organisms. Artisanal fisheries have therefore been of great importance for the provision of food, but also animal feed, medicine, fertilizer and other needs. These fishermen had a deep knowledge about the waterscape and its biota. However, ethnoichthyology remains a small topic within contemporary ethnobiology in Europe. Our focus lies within northern Europe in the late medieval to modern period, but encompasses the wider area with some reference to earlier periods where informative. Method: We have reviewed a large amount of literature mainly on the relationship between man and fish in freshwaters from late medieval times (defined here as the fifteenth century) until the early twenty-first century. The main focus is on freshwater (including anadromous and catadromous) fish in northern Europe, the main area of study for both authors, though examples have been included from elsewhere to indicate the widespread importance of these fisheries. The review includes studies from various fields such as archaeology, ethnography, fish biology, geography, linguistics and osteology to map what has been studied of interest in ethnoichthyology. These data have been analysed and critically reviewed. Results: There are archaeozoological studies, studies of specialised fishers as well as artisanal fishing among the peasantry, research of folk taxonomies, fishing methods (including the use of poison) and gear, which are all of great interest for ethnoichthyology. There is also research on traditional preserving methods for fish as food and for other purposes. Of interest is the keeping of fish in wells, ponds and aquaria. However, there is still room for more research within many domains of ethnoichthyology.

In 1520 the Bridgettine priest Petrus Magni (1460–1534), wrote a manual on agriculture. The manuscript, in Late Old Swedish, is to a large extent taken from Columella’s De re rustica with many additions. At the end of the manual there is a brief chapter on making and keeping ponds for crucian carp (Carassius carassius) and tench (Tinca tinca). Aquaculture, with keeping and breeding fish in artificial ponds, was probably an innovation that became established in secular and monastic environments in Sweden in the fifteenth century. The text is to some extent based on Petrus’s own experience and provides rare knowledge of pond-breeding of cyprinids in Scandinavia in late Medieval times. Petrus’s account is the oldest known manual on fish-breeding in northern Europe. This brief manual is compared with manuals on fish culture by the Bohemian Bishop Janus Dubravius (1486–1553) and Polish nobleman Olbrycht Strumien´ski (d. 1609) published in 1547 and 1573 respectively.

PLoS ONE, 2013

Historical perspectives on fisheries and related human behaviour provide valuable information on fishery resources and their exploitation, helping to more appropriately set management targets and determine relevant reference levels. In this study we analyse historical fisheries and fish trade at the north-eastern Baltic Sea coast in the late 17th century. Local consumption and export together amounted to the annual removal of about 200 tonnes of fish from the nearby sea and freshwater bodies. The fishery was very diverse and exploited altogether one cyclostome and 17 fish species with over 90% of the catch being consumed locally. The exported fish consisted almost entirely of high-valued species with Stockholm (Sweden) being the most important export destination. Due to rich political history and natural features of the region, we suggest that the documented evidence of this small-scale fishery should be considered as the first quantitative summary of exploitation of aquatic living resources in the region and can provide a background for future analyses.

The largest commercial fishery in medieval Europe was in the western Baltic. The aim of this paper is to assess traded and landed amounts of the main target species, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus), and to discuss the development of cod (Gadus morhua) and other fisheries the eastern and northern parts of the Baltic. I shall primarily consider the supply side, namely, the catch and procurement of fish, for which we have a growing body of evidence. The demand side of preferences, in both local and international markets, remains under-researched, but in recent years some information has become available – primarily from the analysis of archaeological fish bones – that points to potential breakthroughs in the future. The commercial, cultural and political significance of the Baltic fisheries is currently poorly understood, and this paper will identify some possible future lines of investigation.

Journal of the World Aquaculture Society, 2010

The goal of this review was to describe in some detail the Nordic aquaculture industries in order to illuminate the similarities and differences. Information that was gathered for each country includes aquaculture history, aquaculture acts and regulations, production and production systems, environmental concerns, organic aquaculture and outlook for the future. The information will be useful for risk assessments, design of risk-based surveillance programs and for construction of comparative risk profiles for endemic and exotic diseases affecting aquaculture in the Nordic countries. Aquaculture in the Nordic countries has a long history; beginning in the 1850s when hatcheries for restocking of salmon and trout were established in Norway. Nowadays, Atlantic salmon is the dominant cultured species in Norway and the Faroe Islands, whereas rainbow trout dominate in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Arctic char and cod are most important in Iceland. Other important cultured species include eel and blue mussels. There is much diversity in Nordic aquaculture industries in terms of production, farmed species, and production systems. Although the vast majority of the Nordic aquaculture production is for human consumption, significant numbers of fish are grown for restocking of rivers, lakes, or other bodies of freshwater or seawater.