The Basque Whaling Establishments in Labrador 1536-1632 - A Summary

Abstract

Contrary to the spurious .claims of writers on the history of whaling who have based their findings on secondary evidence, the Basques never, at any paint, chased whales'further and further out into the Atlantic until they collided with North America. This ridiculous legend must be laid to .rest once and for all. .Basque whaling was. essentially coastal. The Basques .had practised. whaling along their own-coasts from at least the twelfth century. and,probably before. It is clear. that during the sixteenth century the Biscay whale was still by no means exterminated , and well into the seventeenth century Basques continued to send small whaling crews out to Asturiasand Galicia ,for ShoreLbased whaling operations. However, by the 154Os, simultaneously with this winter whaling along the Cantabrian coast, there. had been established .aiong the southern shore of Labrador a far more important Basque whaling industry. The commercial skills required for the organization of transatlantic fishing voyages had originally .developed among Basques from the .fitting out and victualling of pilchard-and hake-fishing (and trading) expeditions to the Irish. Sea. Similarly, the whaling techniques that. Basques brought to .Labrador were those they had already per€ected in European waters. It was their-expertise in these-skills and techniques that allowed the Basques to create a highly successful monopoly of the whaling:enterprise in Labrador. However, the geographical positioning of the new North American whaling establishments was .not .entirely due to 3asque enterprise. Previous Breton voyages* had, pioneered .the Strait of Belle Isle for.cod-fishing, and gradually French Basques, .following the Breton lead,. appear. t o have brought back-repomof .fabulous whaling grounds. This area was soon to become known as the Grand Bay, a. narrow strait with several deep-water harbours along the north shore which opens into the Gulf of St: Lawrence; Thead-fishing is still excellent in the strait. In the sixteenth centuryvast numbers of whales migrated .regularly past these capes and islands on their .way in and out of the gulf. We know that Bretons had sent the earliestvoyages (prior to 1536) 'to this region, not only from the documentary evidence but also from the .toponymy. Early cartography shows the