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fish (ground fish), are found along the coast and on continential shelves 

 or banks. The deep ocean, that is, the ocean beyond the continential 

 shelves, is not very productive. Plankton and the other small organisms 

 that form the basis of all marine food chains drift in the water column 

 while living and sink upon death. Over continential shelves, where the 

 water is relatively shallow and considerable intermixing occurs as a result 

 of tide and current, this abundant nutrient material is recycled. On the 

 other hand, such material sinks below the zone of light penetration in deep 

 water, is not recycled, and is consequently lost. 



In very general terms, the history of marine fisheries has followed a 

 similar pattern worldwide. Initially, coastal residents harvested fish 

 from the beach or close to shore in small boats. Some areas were more pro- 

 ductive than others, and consequently, some coastlines, and the nations that 

 represented them, developed large fishing infrastructures. 



The size of vessels grew, gear grew more sophisticated and, in time, 

 coastal waters produced less fish due to the intense fishing effort. Trip 

 fishing, as opposed to day fishing, commenced; larger vessels travelling 

 long distances to new grounds and at first salting the catch. 



This trend began remarkably early: English vessels are reported to 

 have fished the waters off Iceland by 1300. There was activity on the Grand 

 Banks by Portuguese vessels a century before the arrival of the Pilgrims. 



Such trip fishing, initially using sailing vessels and handlines, then 

 dories and line trawl or sailing vessels towing a beam trawl, was extremely 

 difficult and dangerous. For centuries the technology man had developed was 

 rarely sufficient to develop enough effort to endanger distant water stocks. 



