Working Group on the History of Fish and Fisheries (WGHIST)

The ICES Working Group on the History of Fish and Fisheries (WGHIST) is a forum for interdisciplinary research on social-ecological change in marine and fisheries systems over multi-decadal to centennial timescales. WGHIST comprises a diverse group of researchers, including marine biologists, fisheries scientists, historians, and historical ecologists, from Europe and North America, as well as Australia, Russia, and South Africa.

WGHIST provided a platform for the sharing and reporting of a wide range of research on marine and fisheries systems change over time, including the use of novel and non-traditional data sources and methodologies to identify and interpret these changes. WGHIST members also worked with the ICES Secretariat to forward digital tools to make historical resources more accessible and regarding WGHIST’s potential to support ICES Fisheries and Ecosystem Overviews.

WGHIST engaged with the larger research community on the following manuscripts, still in development or recently submitted: (1) the acute value of the past in the Anthropocene; (2) the importance of and advice on cross-disciplinary conversations; (3) the legacy of Sidney Holt; (4) the power and consequence of qualitative information; and (5) the social and cultural drivers of technology creep.

Finally, WGHIST found extensive evidence for defining elements of blue growth in the past, and explored examples from around the world to delineate lessons for today’s blue growth agendas, research now published in Fish and Fisheries. Future work will forward additional digital tools to access historical resources, develop links to other related data resources, and progress connections between lessons from the past and contemporary management and policy.