Histories of sardine fisheries. architecture and environment in the Bay of Biscay (1846–1965)

Background This study combines historical cartography and statistical analysis to examine Brittany’s sardine fisheries across time (1846–1965) and spatial scales, from individual harbours to the continental shelf. It aims to use interdisciplinary methods to identify the relations between European sardine populations ( Sardina pilchardus ), climatic fluctuations, and the material structures associated with fishing—including vessels and coastal infrastructures. The underlying hypothesis is that long-term sardines fluctuations in landings influenced the way we built on land and, in turn, exerted pressures on sardines ecologies. Methods Historical data on cannery occupation, harbour infrastructures, demography and fisher censuses, sardine landings, fishing vessels, and fishing grounds were compiled to reconstruct the temporalities of fishing landscapes. First, we quantified the spatial expansion of canneries and shoreline infrastructures, distinguishing private industrial investments from publicly funded harbour works and compared public infrastructure investment with profit derived from landings. Second, in the absence of consistent financial records or urban plans at the continental-shelf scale, population census data were used as a proxy for urban growth and related to fishing effort to identify areas of intensified pressure. These patterns were then compared with the spatial distribution of fishing grounds. Finally, sardine landings were analysed against environmental indices and vessel characteristics to assess their relative influence. Results The assessment revealed: (1) a long-term decline in sardine landings that does not seem to be influenced by environmental variability; (2) the continuing expansion of harbour infrastructures even when landing values declined; (3) trends toward the spatial concentration of fishing effort. Conclusions The findings suggest that harbour works, rather than reacting to an objective awareness of the pressure inflicted on fish ecologies, were driven by latent projects and determined by the urgent demands of fishing crises.