Herring Fishery Collapse Teaches Us About Environmental Change

Topic: Environment

A herring fishery in Europe collapsed in the 16th century. It took almost 400 years for catches to recover. Researchers studied why it happened and found that climate change, overfishing, and social changes all played a role.

From the 13th to the 16th century, herring from the Sound—the strait in the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Sweden—was one of northern Europe's most important trade goods. Salted herring from the so-called Skanör-Falsterbo fishery fed large parts of Europe.

Around 1570, however, the fishery collapsed rapidly, with far-reaching consequences for trade, politics and society. It took almost 400 years, until the 1950s, for catches to reach comparable levels again.

An international team of fisheries economists, ecologists and historians led by Kiel University (CAU) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) has investigated why a fishery that had been stable for centuries collapsed so suddenly. The results show that declining herring stocks alone cannot explain it.

The stock shrank markedly in the 16th century, but it did not collapse completely. Instead, the combined effects of environmental change, overfishing and social change brought the profitable fishery to a sudden end.

Why It Matters

Understanding how complex systems like fisheries can collapse is crucial for managing our planet's resources sustainably. This study's findings have implications for climate change mitigation and sustainable fishing practices.

Key Facts

• The herring fishery in the Sound collapsed around 1570 and took almost 400 years to recover.
• Climate change, overfishing, and social changes all contributed to the collapse of the fishery.
• Researchers used a combination of historical records and ecological indicators to reconstruct the fishery's dynamics.
• The study was published in Nature Sustainability and highlights the importance of considering multiple factors when managing complex systems.
• The western Baltic Sea herring stock is currently outside safe biological limits.

Key Terms

Bioeconomic Stock Assessment Method (BESA)

A method used to estimate sustainable catch levels and the state of a fishery over time using historical data.

Implications

Understanding how complex systems like fisheries can collapse is crucial for managing our planet's resources sustainably. This study's findings have implications for climate change mitigation and sustainable fishing practices.