HMAP Dataset 08: Swedish Baltic Catch Data, 1752-1990

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.