The History of Fishing

As you may have guessed, fishing has been around for about as long as humans have been alive. In the prehistoric era, fishing was used as a way to provide food. Though there is some evidence that humans were fishing around 500,000 years ago, many believe that humans in around 40,000 BCE were the ones to truly develop fishing practices. Initial fishing was done by communities who lives close to the ocean or two rivers and lakes, and was done by hand or by using tools made from natural materials. The Egyptians were the ones to invent tools like nets, rods, and spears in 3500 BCE, many of which are tools that are still used today. There is also evidence that around this time, Native Americans were fishing using hooks, specifically those with a poison on the edge to put the fish to sleep. Later on, the Romans were the main users of the Mediterranean Sea, being both big consumers and suppliers or fish and seafood. It was during the Middle Ages when fish farming began, as feudal lords began to build ponds for fish and farming them for food. As time went on, people began looking for different ways to fish, the Dutch decided to begin deep-sea fishing. Beginning in the 15th century, boats would spend weeks on the water dragging nets to catch fish and seafood. Around this same time, fishing began emerging as a hobby as well, with people beginning to catch fish for fun. Over the next hundreds of years as technology developed, more powerful boats were sent to sea with bigger nets and other tools to catch more fish. Fish farming also developed into an industry, as well as recreational fishing. Today, the fishing industry is a huge one that supplies fish and seafood to the whole world!