had for the population was clear, both for direct feeding and for exchanging it with
another basic foodstuff (Sarriá 1990).
New guidelines were included in the Malaga ordinances of 1611 (Martín Acosta
2010). The diversity of fish species that were unloaded on the beaches of Malaga and
Granada was sold both fresh and salty, in both capitals at regulated prices.
The municipal control was extended on the beaches with inspectors who measured
the lengths of the nets and the size of the meshes of various nets and pots. In order for
the post-larval fish and juveniles to escape, a mesh opening of the size of the second
finger of a hand was established (verifiable with a mayor’s ring). Most species of fish
(78%) were selected to specifically supply the city.
In the last decades of the seventeenth century in Spain, there was a decline in
fisheries. Its consequences had not been overcome yet in the mid-eighteenth century,
when the Spanish fishing fleet and its auxiliary industries continued to decrease,
leading to the importation of salted cod from foreign countries. The Bourbon
monarchy considered “the advance of fisheries as an inexhaustible treasure of
wealth, providing a continuous occupation for the people and a school of sailors”
a priority to stimulate better socioeconomic conditions (García and Fernández 1993).
A slow process of reconversion of the fishing sector took place by ameliorating the
fishing techniques and their abilities, establishing a renewed salting industry and
optimizing the fish catch distribution network along the coasts and inland. The price
of salt was specifically decreased for the fishing sector, and in different local coastal
populations, the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country fostered the establishment of local fisheries (García and Fernández 1993). Within the national fishing
grounds regulations, in 1751, there were orders regarding the conservation of
different fish species (by prohibiting fishing during spawning seasons and setting
mesh size regulations), and in 1753, for the Ensenada Cadastre, the fleet and sailors’
inventory for the ports of the province of Malaga was carried out (Villas 1995).
The local fisheries were encouraged by the elimination of municipal taxes on
fishery products. Commissioners of the Naval Ministry started to inspect the local
fisheries and, consequently, proposed better measures for their regulation. The most
prominent and expert of them was A. Sáñez-Reguart and wrote the “Report on the
restoration of fishing along the Andalusian coasts.” For 15 years, from 1780 to 1795,
that naval inspector classified the Spanish fauna captured by the fisheries and
published a descriptive five-volume inventory of the varied fishing techniques and
skills used in the country (Sáñez-Reguart 1791–1795). The significant inspection in
Malaga during 1786 led to the publication of the “Regulatory ordinance for Mediterranean fishing” and of the “Regulation and Order for the Registration of Seamen”
(a register of shipowners, skippers, fishermen and sailors) which was published in
the city (Burgos 1994a).
Concern about the impact of Catalan bottom trawling on benthic and demersal
fauna on the coast of Malaga was constant during this century. Therefore, a conservationist controversy arose against the trawling couples, with important men and
local fishermen who reported their harmful effects (Fernández and Martínez-Shaw
1984).
23 A Historical Approach to Living Resources on the Spanish Coasts from the. . .
787
another basic foodstuff (Sarriá 1990).
New guidelines were included in the Malaga ordinances of 1611 (Martín Acosta
2010). The diversity of fish species that were unloaded on the beaches of Malaga and
Granada was sold both fresh and salty, in both capitals at regulated prices.
The municipal control was extended on the beaches with inspectors who measured
the lengths of the nets and the size of the meshes of various nets and pots. In order for
the post-larval fish and juveniles to escape, a mesh opening of the size of the second
finger of a hand was established (verifiable with a mayor’s ring). Most species of fish
(78%) were selected to specifically supply the city.
In the last decades of the seventeenth century in Spain, there was a decline in
fisheries. Its consequences had not been overcome yet in the mid-eighteenth century,
when the Spanish fishing fleet and its auxiliary industries continued to decrease,
leading to the importation of salted cod from foreign countries. The Bourbon
monarchy considered “the advance of fisheries as an inexhaustible treasure of
wealth, providing a continuous occupation for the people and a school of sailors”
a priority to stimulate better socioeconomic conditions (García and Fernández 1993).
A slow process of reconversion of the fishing sector took place by ameliorating the
fishing techniques and their abilities, establishing a renewed salting industry and
optimizing the fish catch distribution network along the coasts and inland. The price
of salt was specifically decreased for the fishing sector, and in different local coastal
populations, the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country fostered the establishment of local fisheries (García and Fernández 1993). Within the national fishing
grounds regulations, in 1751, there were orders regarding the conservation of
different fish species (by prohibiting fishing during spawning seasons and setting
mesh size regulations), and in 1753, for the Ensenada Cadastre, the fleet and sailors’
inventory for the ports of the province of Malaga was carried out (Villas 1995).
The local fisheries were encouraged by the elimination of municipal taxes on
fishery products. Commissioners of the Naval Ministry started to inspect the local
fisheries and, consequently, proposed better measures for their regulation. The most
prominent and expert of them was A. Sáñez-Reguart and wrote the “Report on the
restoration of fishing along the Andalusian coasts.” For 15 years, from 1780 to 1795,
that naval inspector classified the Spanish fauna captured by the fisheries and
published a descriptive five-volume inventory of the varied fishing techniques and
skills used in the country (Sáñez-Reguart 1791–1795). The significant inspection in
Malaga during 1786 led to the publication of the “Regulatory ordinance for Mediterranean fishing” and of the “Regulation and Order for the Registration of Seamen”
(a register of shipowners, skippers, fishermen and sailors) which was published in
the city (Burgos 1994a).
Concern about the impact of Catalan bottom trawling on benthic and demersal
fauna on the coast of Malaga was constant during this century. Therefore, a conservationist controversy arose against the trawling couples, with important men and
local fishermen who reported their harmful effects (Fernández and Martínez-Shaw
1984).
23 A Historical Approach to Living Resources on the Spanish Coasts from the. . .
787