Extractions of North Atlantic cod and herring, 1520-1790

We estimate total landings of two major commercial fish species, North Atlantic cod and Northeast Atlantic herring, c 1520-1790. The fisheries evolved through two phases of Accelerated Marine Extraction in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Total landings more than doubled between 1520 and 1620 from about 220,000 metric tonnes to 460,000 MT. A decline of landings in the second half of the 17th century was likely linked to widespread warfare and climate deterioration. Rapid and sustained growth began again around 1725, and total supplies to the European market peaked in 1788 at more than 1 million MT before the unrest connected with the French Revolution ground many fisheries to a temporary halt. Extractions vastly exceeded previous assessments. The findings shift baseline assumptions about past human impact on marine animals, especially cod.