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In the seventeenth century, the Dutch herring fisheries in the North Sea were considered the most sophisticated and demanding fishing operation in the world. This is the first study to assess the North Sea herring and herring fisheries over the span of several centuries. It contributes to the understanding of pre-modern natural resource exploitation and the role of the natural environment in long-term development of the Dutch herring fisheries.

This paper investigates more than 20 years of government led attempts to have Danish consumers curb their energy use. Looking at previously unexploited campaign material a number of results emerge, qualifying, the notion of Denmark as a front runner, when it comes to environmental awareness. The first attempts to cut energy consumption came about as a direct consequence of the international oil crises of 1973-74, and for the following 15 years the government standing committee on energy savings issued a string of energy saving campaigns, fueled entirely by an appeal to common sense household economics and not least a significant portion of patriotism. Environmental justification was almost entirely absent throughout the 1970s and 1980s. This changed only from 1989 onwards, as government initiatives to curb the ever rising consumption of energy commenced an extensive use of environmental justification. This paper finally discusses the reason for this greening of government initiated Danish energy saving campaigns, which is seen as an indirect result of the 1987 UN report, Our Common Future. The 1988 general election in Denmark led to the formation of a new center-right government coalition (1988-1990), where recommendations from Our Common Future became part of the new government program. The early 1990s witnessed a rare consensus on promoting environmental sustainability, which extended across traditional left-right party lines.

For no less than 300 years, c. 1550-1860 the Dutch way of fishing was the envy of neighbours in the North Sea area and looked upon as the undisputed best practice. This was a lasting consequence of the Dutch Golden Age in fishing outliving the reality of best practice with at least 150 years. This paper explores the consequences of the image of Dutch dominance, as seen through 41 different attempts to build a fleet and run fishing operations similar to the Dutch. Most of them were short lived, and some never made it to the fishing grounds before going bankrupt. When reviewed one by one, they all have unique reasons for lacklustre performances. Privateering, warfare, bankruptcy, bad fishing luck are all valid explanations at the level of politics and short term events. However, when looked upon in connection to each other, some recurrent features of more or less sound policies appear, as well as structural social and natural conditions for varying degrees of success and failure. Two waves of imitation emerge from this comparison. In the mid-17th century and during the 1760s-70s there was a particularly strong European wide interest in emulating Dutch fisheries.

From mid 1950s to the early 1970s, Danish society went through drastic changes, and this period has been called the prolonged 1950s. From the post-war shortage society emerged a growth, consumer, and welfare society. Two decades of economic growth with the highest growth rates ever, fuelled by cheap oil deliveries from the Middle East. Growth was a lever for progress and a new lifestyle: cars, single-family houses in suburbs, consumer goods, travels, and use-and-throw-away attitudes. Consumptive ways of living were democratized through price reductions, redistribution, and trickle-down effects. At the end of the period environmental critique emerged of overconsumption – pollution, problematic new technologies, waste problems, and future resource shortage.

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Contributors -- Of Seascapes and People: Multiple Perspectives on Oceans Past -- Introduction -- Inventing Marine Environmental History -- Challenges of Interdisciplinarity -- In This Volume -- References -- Acknowledging Long-Term Ecological Change: The Problem of Shifting Baselines -- What Is the Shifting Baselines Syndrome? -- Why Does the Shifting Baselines Syndrome Matter? -- Implications for Scientific Inquiry and Understanding -- Management and Analytical Implications -- Social-Ecological Implications -- Addressing the Shifting Baselines Syndrome -- The Importance of Retrospective Data: Highlighting the Prevalence of Shifting Baselines -- Incorporating Long-Term Data into Contemporary Science and Management -- Communicating the Issue of Shifting Baselines to a Broader Audience -- Conclusions -- References -- Historical Fishing Communities -- What Is a Community? -- Theories of Community -- The Uses of the Community Concept in Marine Environmental History -- Eco/Ethnohistory -- Community and Capitalism -- Recent European Studies: Communities and the Commons -- American Studies of Fishing Communities -- Non-European/American Studies -- Community and the Individual -- Conclusion -- References -- Archaeology as a Tool for Understanding Past Marine Resource Use and Its Impact -- Introduction: The Unique Potential and Contribution of Archaeology -- Beyond History: The Value of Time Depth -- The (Zoo)archaeological Resource -- Lines of Archaeological Evidence in Historical Ecology -- Presence/Absence Data and Biogeography -- Relative Taxonomic Abundances -- Evidence for Production, Consumption, and Trade -- Size, Age, and Seasonality Data -- Stable Isotopes as Ecological Indicators -- Ancient DNA (aDNA) -- Future Prospects -- References -- Human Archives: Historians' Methodologies and Past Marine Resource Use.

"This book deepens our understanding of ethical drivers in energy policy and contributes to future decision-making on transitions towards a sustainable energy system. During the latest fifty years Western energy politics have been faced with a series of ethical challenges including rapid growth, oil crises, security of supply, nuclear power and climate change. Combining philosophical, historical and planning approaches into one narrative, these dilemmas are explored using Denmark as the key case study. Drawing on contributions from several experts in the field, the ethics of energy is investigated from multiple perspectives at the individual, corporate, local and national levels, focusing on concrete decisions where different ethical considerations are weighted against each other. This comprehensive approach helps to gain a deeper understanding of the energy sector's history and gives important input to its future layout. Drawing comparisons with European and global examples, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy politics and policy, environmental ethics, climate change and sustainability transitions."