Institutional constraints to the development of the Spanish fishing sector (18th and 19th centuries)

Abstract

Before the steam era, technological limitations restricted the capacity to catch and market fish. Furthermore, a restrictive institutional framework hindered the performance of the Spanish fishing industry. High manufacturing costs attributed to the salt monopoly, restrictions on labour supply caused by the Matrícula de Mar (Maritime Registry), and contradictory legislation contributed to reduced labour participation and investment. The fishing industry was only free from institutional constraints after a long process of dismantling the maritime-fishing regulations of the Ancien Régime at the end of the nineteenth century.