Mapping Victorian Britain’s fishing grounds

A robust, clean example of an important work on sea fishing, one of the studies of the fishing grounds around the British Isles. The first four illustrate the tides, depths, composition of the sea bed and the names of the grounds. Each of the other 46 maps are dedicated a species important to the fishery industry (including Mackerel, Cod, Sturgeon. Sole, Plaice, Lobster and Oyster), listing their locations, spawning grounds and how they are caught, with a vignette of the typical boat used to catch them. The Piscatorial Atlas, published as fishing boats were switching from sail to steam, is a disturbing reminder of how industrial techniques have all but destroyed the fishing stocks in less than 150 years. For example the oyster beds shown on the last map have all but vanished, making a food that once fed London's poor a luxury delicacy.