Environment, Economy and Trade in British Discourse on Fisheries, 1650-1800

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This project will examine the place of fisheries within British debates around political economy andinternational competition between the English Civil War and the American Revolution, treating the muchoverlookedtopic of fisheries as a prism for rethinking the relationship between geopolitical competitionof trade, domestic and international economic growth and the rise of Britain as an imperial power.Fisheries were fundamental to debates about the economic health and political stability of Britain, but -despite the work of Harris (2000) - there exists no thorough study in this period of empire andcommercial expansion. My project will offer the first comprehensive account of the topic from a uniqueperspective, at the intersection of intellectual and environmental historical approaches. In an age whenfisheries are once again entangled with both environmental concerns and tensions between Britain andher continental neighbours, this research is particularly topical.