7th Annual Smout Lecture
7th Annual Smout Lecture
New Arts Theatre, Thursday 3 October, New Arts Theatre, 5.30pm
Professor Poul Holm (Trinity College Dublin)
‘The North Atlantic Fish Revolution, c.1500 AD: Climate, Markets, People’
In 1497, John Cabot returned to Bristol and told of waters off Newfoundland so “full of
fish that [they] can be taken not only with nets but with fishing-baskets”. Within a
few decades, the discovery led to a dramatic increase in supplies of cod (Gadus morhua) to the European market. The ‘Fish Revolution’ permanently changed human and animal life in the North Atlantic region. Not only the seafood market but Atlantic geopolitics were transformed in the process. In this talk, Professor Holm will consider three questions:
(1) What were the environmental parameters of the Fish Revolution?
(2) What were the globalising effects of the Fish Revolution?
(3) What were the consequences of the Fish Revolution for fishing
communities?
Professor Poul Holm
Professor Paul Holm is the Director of the Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities at Trinity College Dublin. He is also a member of the Royal Irish Academy’s Standing Committee for Archaeology, and Vice-Chair of the Humanities class of Academia Europea. Professor Holm’s research focusses on North Atlantic fisheries c.1400-1700, and more generally the interdisciplinary combination of marine science and history.
This lecture is open to the public and will be followed by a wine reception.