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The expansion of the south‐western fisheries in late medieval England[Note 1. I am grateful for a fellowship at the Shelby ...]
Author(s) -
Kowaleski Maryanne
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0289.00166
Subject(s) - fishing , prosperity , revenue , distribution (mathematics) , fishing industry , investment (military) , navy , capital (architecture) , economy , fish <actinopterygii> , work (physics) , fishery , geography , business , economic history , economics , economic growth , political science , engineering , archaeology , finance , law , mechanical engineering , mathematical analysis , mathematics , politics , biology
This article argues that the expansion of marine fishing in south‐western England from the late fourteenth century to the early sixteenth was part of the maritime sector's critical, but unappreciated, contribution to the rising prosperity of the region. Revenues from fishing represented a substantial supplement to the income of the fisher‐farmers who dominated the industry; promoted employment in ancillary industries such as fish curing; improved the seasonal distribution of maritime work; and stimulated capital investment in ships, nets, and other equipment because of the share system that characterized the division of profits within fishing enterprises. In offering what was probably the chief source of employment within the maritime sector, fishing also provided the ‘nursery of seamen’ so prized by the Tudor navy, and built the navigational experience that underpinned later voyages of exploration.