The power of fishing: The introduction of steam and motorization in Scandinavian fishing, 1880–1950

Abstract

The history of fishing has often been written from a local or regional perspective. There has gradually been a shift where fishing has been studied from a broader international perspective. Nevertheless, large international overviews need detailed studies of individual ports in a similar way as studies of individual ports benefit from the international perspective. The introduction of steam-powered fishing vessels in Scandinavia has often been regarded as an attempt to imitate fishing in Great Britain. However, a closer study of the Scandinavian countries shows that this does not match, for example, the Norwegian steam fishing fleet. Scandinavia's two main fishing ports with steam-powered fishing vessels, Ålesund in Norway and Gothenburg in Sweden, show great differences. Gothenburg is the place that has the most similarities with the large British fishing ports. Steam-powered fishing vessels played a modest role in Danish fishing. On the other hand, when it comes to the introduction of engines, the Danish fishery was the leader. However, it would take more than 30 years from the first functionable engines around the turn of the twentieth century before motor-driven fishing vessels could begin to compete with steam-powered fishing vessels. The problems of financing the new technology are emphasized in the article. Government loans were important in many countries, but much research is still needed to clarify the proportion that was government-financed and how much other financial actors contributed.