Ethnoichthyology of freshwater fish in Europe: a review of vanishing traditional fisheries and their cultural significance in changing landscapes from the later medieval period with a focus on northern Europe

Abstract

Background: Fishing is probably one of the oldest economic activities in the history of humankind. Lakes, rivers and streams in Europe are important elements in the European landscape with a rich diversity of fish and other aquatic organisms. Artisanal fisheries have therefore been of great importance for the provision of food, but also animal feed, medicine, fertilizer and other needs. These fishermen had a deep knowledge about the waterscape and its biota. However, ethnoichthyology remains a small topic within contemporary ethnobiology in Europe. Our focus lies within northern Europe in the late medieval to modern period, but encompasses the wider area with some reference to earlier periods where informative.

Method: We have reviewed a large amount of literature mainly on the relationship between man and fish in freshwaters from late medieval times (defined here as the fifteenth century) until the early twenty-first century. The main focus is on freshwater (including anadromous and catadromous) fish in northern Europe, the main area of study for both authors, though examples have been included from elsewhere to indicate the widespread importance of these fisheries. The review includes studies from various fields such as archaeology, ethnography, fish biology, geography, linguistics and osteology to map what has been studied of interest in ethnoichthyology. These data have been analysed and critically reviewed.

Results: There are archaeozoological studies, studies of specialised fishers as well as artisanal fishing among the peasantry, research of folk taxonomies, fishing methods (including the use of poison) and gear, which are all of great interest for ethnoichthyology. There is also research on traditional preserving methods for fish as food and for other purposes. Of interest is the keeping of fish in wells, ponds and aquaria. However, there is still room for more research within many domains of ethnoichthyology.

Conclusion: Humans have always utilized fish and other aquatic resources. Nonetheless, few ethnobiologists working within Europe are so far researching human-fish relationships. This paper demonstrates the range of research available, but also points to future studies. It is important to widen ethnobiological research in Europe to include fish.

Keywords: Archaeozoology; Ethnozoology; Fishing culture; Fishing practices; Fishponds; Folk biology; Foraging activities; Human nutrition; Human-animal relationship.

Fig. 1

Fishing gear used by local farmers in a stream outside Uppsala in the early twentieth century. It was an illegal fishing method when the photo was taken by Ivar Arwidsson. However, the local villagers still used it at least once a year (Courtesy: Nordic Museum, Stockholm)

Fig. 2

Fish bones of burbot, Lota lota (L.), from the Swedish warship Vasa that sank during its maiden voyage in 10 August 1628. Among the provisions for the crew on-board were dried and salted fish, whose bones have been identified to species thus giving as a good insight in popular food fish within the navy in the seventeenth century. Burbot is still eaten in early spring in Sweden (Photo: Kristin Ytterborg, The Vasa Museum, Stockholm)

Fig. 3

Russian children fishers. Engraving by A.I. Zubchaninov, drawing by A.P. Koverznev, 1875 (From Vsemirnaya Illyustratsia 1875)

Fig. 4

Fisherman with a cast net in the village Neppendorf (Turnișor) near Hermannstadt (Sibiu), Siebenbürgen, Roumania, in 1915 (Courtesy Museums of World Culture, Stockholm)

Fig. 5

A Pákász family camp in a Hungarian swamp. They were living as fisher-foragers on the marsh-land of the Nagy-Sárrét region (From O. Herman, A Magyar halászat könyve, 1887)

Fig. 6

Coat of arms for Oder Welse in Germany. Fish are common on European (including Russian) coats of arms for villages, cities and provinces. Common freshwater fish species depicted are salmon, whitefish, pike, barbel, eel, and lamprey

Fig. 7

Fishing for smelt in Norrström, Stockholm, in front of the Royal Castle in 1945. This view was well-known to people in the city since medieval times and lasted until 2016, when the last smelt boats were sold (Photo Lennart af Petersens, Courtesy Stockholm City Museum)

Fig. 8

Night fishing with a traditional lift net at Sindret, Värmland, in April 2019. This gear was used only a few kilometres from where Linnaeus made a similar drawing in 1746, c.f. Fig. 9 (Photo Armas Jäppinen)

Fig. 9

Lift net for smelt fishing observed and sketched by Linnaeus in Persberg, eastern Värmland, in 1746 (Source Carl Linnaeus, Wästgötha Resa, 1747)

Fig. 10

Vimba bream (Vimba vimba) captured with nets and by hand in a stream at Strömsberg in Finland 1926 (Photo Curt Segerstråle, The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, Helsinki)

Fig. 11

Stunning burbot, Lota lota, through the thin ice with an axe (From Olaus Magnus, Historia de gentibus septemtrionalibus, 1555)

Fig. 12

Some old-style fishing techniques have survived until today. Here is a man stunning burbot, through the thin ice with a bludgeon, c.f. Fig. 11 (Photo Hilding Mickelsson 1972, Hälsinglands Museum, CC-BY-NC)

Fig. 13

An old fishpond of medieval origin still stocked with fish at the Manor House, Long Clawson, Leicestershire, England (Photo Nicholas Redman, 2012)

Fig. 14

Otter assisting his master in fishing (Olaus Magnus Carta Marina, 1539)

Fig. 15

Fishing for crayfish in the 1890s. Painting by Carl Larsson (From C. Larsson, Ett hem, 1897)