Historical marine footprint for Atlantic Europe, 1500–2019

Abstract

Over the last 500 years, Europe (excluding Russia) consumed over 2500 million tonnes of ocean biomass. This is based on detailed historical data that we provide for human consumption per capita which was stable from 1500 to 1899 and tripled in the twentieth century. In the last 300 years, cod and herring dominated human seafood consumption. Whaling for non-food uses peaked in the 1830s and declined as cetaceans became scarce. Seafood consumption increased rapidly after 1900, and by the late 1930s, annual marine consumption in Atlantic Europe reached 7 million tonnes of biomass, facilitated by the globalisation of whaling. Atlantic European consumption, including fishmeal for animal feed, peaked at more than 12 million tonnes annually in the 1970s, but declined thereafter. The marine footprint of Atlantic Europe was significant well before modern fisheries statistics commenced. Our findings can inform future assessments of ocean health and marine life’s importance for human society.