Oceans Past : An Environmental History of World Fisheries

Oceans Past is the first history of the scale, character and significance (ecological and human) of the extraction of living marine resources from the oceans since the earliest times, and emerges from the ten-year Census of Marine Life project, which involved over 2,000 researchers from more than 80 countries, aimed at assessing and explaining the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the oceans.

This unique book uses the history of our extraction of the oceans to help us understand the relationship between human societies and the marine environment.

Combining cultural, economic and environmental perspectives on the maritime past it adds a marine dimension to the ever-expanding field of environmental history, and furthers the dialogue between history and marine sciences.

By applying historical knowledge to marine conservation efforts, this study offers a guide to how we might manage our exploitation of the oceans in future.