HMAP Dataset 8 Swedish Baltic Catch Data, 1752-1990 Supporting Documentation Summary Dataset Title: Swedish Baltic Catch Data, 1752-1990 HMAP Case Study: Baltic Large Marine Ecosystem: 23: Baltic Sea Subject: Baltic fish catches, derived from Swedish archives Data Provider: Kenneth Awebro c/o Bo Poulsen Roskilde University Denmark e-mail: bopo@ruc.dk Data Editor: Michaela Barnard, MHSC, University of Hull m.g.barnard@hull.ac.uk Extent: 11, 417 records Keywords: fishing catch statistics; History of Marine Animal Populations; Baltic Sea; Swedish archives Citation (a) The dataset: please cite as follows: K. Awebro & B. Poulsen, eds., �Swedish Baltic Catch Data, 1752-1990� in M.G Barnard & J.H Nicholls (comp.) HMAP Data Pages (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) (b) Supporting documentation: please cite as follows: K Awebro, �HMAP Dataset 8: Swedish Baltic Catch Data, 1752-1990, Supporting Documentation�, in M.G Barnard & J.H Nicholls (comp.) HMAP Data Pages (www.hull.ac.uk/hmap) Acknowledgements: The guidance provided by Henn Ojaveer, Brian MacKenzie and other members of the HMAP Baltic Steering Group is gratefully acknowledged. The data were edited and rendered compatible with the HMAP and OBIS schema by the HMAP Data Pages team at Hull. Contents Page 1. HMAP Baltic: Objectives 1 2. Swedish Baltic Catch Database: Sources 2-3 (a) Riksarkivet 2 (b) Riksdagshandlingar 2 (c) Statistical Abstract of Sweden (SCB) 3 (d) Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift 3 (e) Statistics Sweden 3 3. Outputs 4 1. HMAP Baltic: Objectives The aim of the Baltic Sea project is to identify the natural and human factors that interact to condition long-term ecosystem change. The historical source material is very rich (MacKenzie et al, 2002), and the ecosystem is very well covered by modern fisheries and oceanographic data. Nevertheless, the enigmas of understanding ecosystem dynamics, especially with regard to the occurrence and fluctuation of marine mammals, cod and herring, have long been recognized to warrant historical investigation. The challenge of political barriers and linguistic diversity has until recently made long-term studies difficult, but the Baltic team has successfully overcome these impediments and identified partners in all Baltic countries. The Baltic Sea team comprises Danish, Swedish, Estonian, Latvian, Russian and Polish researchers, and has generated datasets from a range of archival repositories, including those in Denmark discussed below. See the following documents: * Baltic HMAP Scientific�Data Interpretation Report (http://www.hull.ac.uk/hmap/Downloads/Datasets/BaNoNoSHmap.pdf) * Baltic Sea Fisheries in Previous Centuries: Development of Catch data Series and Preliminary Interpretations of Causes of Fluctuations (http://www.hull.ac.uk/hmap/Downloads/Datasets/ICES_2002.pdf) 2. Swedish Baltic Catch Database: Sources (a) Riksarkivet (The National Archives [NA]) This is one of the oldest public agencies in Sweden, its history leading back to the Middle Ages. The National Archives has the supervision of all public records of the agencies of the central Government. (b) Riksdagshandlingar (NA) During the Age of Freedom 1719-1772, the Swedish Parliament played a major part in Swedish political life. A special division of Parliament was in charge of matters concerning fisheries and at almost every parliamentary session new methods were discussed - aimed at improving the states fisheries. From that time there are a lot of archival material � including statistics - about fisheries in Sweden and Finland and this is kept in the National Archives in Stockholm, but unfortunately the material is not collated as separate collections. In the 1750s and 1770s supervisors of the fisheries in Bohusl�n were in function and from 1791-1821 there was a post as quartermaster for the herring fisheries in Bohusl�n. Later in 1856-1889, there was a supervisor appointed and from 1890-1904 a quartermaster for the sea fisheries in G�teborg was also appointed. Valuable material about the fisheries in Sweden and in the different counties is to be found in communications from the county administrative boards and provincial governors to Parliament and King during the period 1741-1792 and that material is also to be found at the National Archives in Stockholm and in some regional archives. The Royal Academy of Agriculture in 1864 created a post of Inspector of Fisheries covering both the Baltic and inland fresh-waters and this led to statistical records of fisheries being compiled that began in1864. Records were collected during journeys by the inspectors around the country. Data in long series from deep sea fishing in Bohusl�n has been recorded since 1859, but there also exists sporadic data covering many years during the period from 1700. The aim was to achieve a proper policy for fishing in the country. All the administrators from the middle of the 19th century were well-qualified scientists. The Royal Academy of Agriculture (Lantbruksakademien) had from 1856-1904 an adviser on fish farming. Between 1864 and 1889, a quartermaster for fisheries in the Baltic and in the inland lakes came into existence on the payroll. The archives were deposited in the National Archives in 1991 and consist of approximately 50 shelf metres of material. All the material is kept together regardless of its origin in the original administrative set-up. (c) Statistical Abstract of Sweden (SCB) The (SCB) - kept in the National Archives of Sweden (RA) - is a statistical reference work, intended to provide summary statistics on a broad range of conditions and activities in Sweden. There is also often material "Comparative International Statistics" that present information for and from other countries. The publication "Statistisk �rsbok" - in Swedish - can also serve as a guide to other statistical publications by means of its source references, notes to the tables and a section "Official statistical Reports". The particulars given in the Statistical Abstract are very brief, both for the sake of clarity, and for reasons of space, but there are more detailed statistical data with comments, information on methods of collections etc. Primary sources, on which the different tables are based, are often kept safely in the archives and are accessible for new historical research. There are also statistics available in a publication called �Historical Statistics of Sweden�, the figures sometimes date back to as early as 1720 - but its content is mostly principal data on population statistics. It is not possible to say exactly how much archival material there is, but an estimation is that it comprises about 75 shelf-meters. (d) Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift - a journal for those working with fisheries (e) Statistics Sweden (Statistiska centralbyr�n, SCB) The parish registration required by the 1686 Church Ordinance laid the ground for future population statistics. Sweden began to keep population statistics in 1749, a quite unique phenomenon. Sweden - and Finland, which was then under Swedish rule - are the only countries that possess continuous records of their population so far back in time. Statistics Sweden was established in 1858. Initially, its operations focused overwhelmingly on population statistics, but gradually other branches of statistics were added, such as agricultural statistics, fisheries, statistics on local government finances, savings banks statistics and poor relief statistics. In 1962 a process of centralisation began in public statistics. Greater responsibility passed to Statistics Sweden, which was radically reorganised and divided into seven subject matter departments and a number of service offices. Since 1994, the responsibility for official statistics has been divided between Statistics Sweden and other public authorities. From this point on, these other authorities have been responsible for a more substantial share of statistics than before. 3. Outputs The data have been used to inform a number of analyses, including: MacKenzie, B. R., K�ster, F. W. 2004. Fish production and climate: sprat in the Baltic Sea. Ecology 85: 784-794 Ojaveer, H. and Andrushaitis, A. 2004. History of ecosystem studies in the Gulf of Riga. Proceedings of Estonian Academy of Sciences. Biology. Ecology 53/2: 116-143 Ojaveer, H., Eero, M. and Lankov, A. 2004. Microevolution of eelpout, Zoarces viviparus, in the Baltic Sea. Proceedings of Estonian Academy of Sciences. Biology. Ecology 53: 292-305 Ojaveer, H., Simm, M. and Lankov, A. 2004. Population dynamics and ecological impacts of the non-indigenous Cercopagis pengoi in the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea). Hydrobiologia 522: 261-269 Fisheries Research: History of Marine Animal Populations and their Exploitation in Northern Europe Edited by Henn Ojaveer and Brian R. MacKenzie Fisheries Research, Special Issue, Volume 87, 2-3, pp.101-262 (November 2007) HMAP Dataset 8: Swedish Baltic Catch Data, 1752-1990 HMAP Data Pages: http://www.hull.ac.uk/hmap 4 HMAP Data Pages: http://www.hull.ac.uk/hmap