Fish as a Resource and a Curiosity in International Exhibitions at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Fish and other water edible animals are the most numerous wild creatures that still are perceived as natural resource. Their individuality in perception by humans is mostly not recognised. In this paper I would like to discuss how fish were displayed and perceived at the World Fairs and specialised Fisheries Exhibitions that were quite numerous between 1880 and the beginning of the First World War. Among them the Great International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883 was the most significant and abundant and provided much material that remains not well studied by historians. Many fishing nations provided booklets and other materials for the exhibitions; the reception of the displays was discussed in scientific and popular publications and public media that included also visual materials. Why did fish become the object of such interest to the general public? What kind of stories were different nations and regions trying to tell through these displays and publications? How did fish link and divide people, especially the experts? Fisheries, as a sector of the economy, united archaic technologies and culture with the call for progress and modernisation. In addition, interest was concentrated around animals from whom humans felt removed at a large distance but who mystified them by their diversity in shape, colours, movement and, finally, taste.