Fishing has long been one of the most enduring pillars of human activity in the Greek maritime space. In contrast to shipping, trade, and coastal navigation, however, it remains one of the least studied fields in the humanities. Despite its importance to the economy, nutrition, and the shaping of island and coastal societies, its historical and social dimensions have often been underestimated or treated in a fragmentary manner. The Centre of Maritime History of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies at the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) has integrated the study of Greek fisheries into its core areas of activity. The primary aim of this approach is to offer new perspectives on the relationship between humans and the marine environment, the state regulation of natural resources, and the development of coastal communities, highlighting the sea’s multifaceted role and shedding light on the ways in which fishing has co-shaped the maritime identity of the Greeks.

Perhaps one of the most significant problems that historical research on Greek fisheries is called upon to address and overcome is the lack of sources. This factor has in the past been regarded as a defining characteristic and, rather mistakenly, interpreted as a consequence of the limited scale of the activity. At the core of the present research project lies the creation of a digital archival repository, based primarily on material contained in the Greek Government Gazette (FEK).     

This source constitutes a valuable archival source, offering rich and extensive documentation of state activity. The Gazette is the official state publication in which laws, decrees, executive decisions, administrative regulations, public administration notices, budgets, and, more broadly, the full range of administrative acts relating to the political, social, and economic life of the country are published. At the same time, it remains to a large extent an underutilized source. The absence of electronic, targeted keyword search capabilities, as well as the lack of a thematic index, constitute significant obstacles to its effective use in research. Searches are conducted issue by issue and often require reading the entire text, as titles do not accurately reflect the content.

The research will involve the systematic review and indexing of all issues from the first year of publication in 1833 to 1940. Through this process, a picture will emerge of the diachronic development of issues relating to fisheries, as reflected in the state gazette up to the eve of the Second World War. For this purpose, the issues of the Greek Government Gazette (FEK) will be examined and all references related to fishing activity and, more broadly, to the resources of the sea, rivers, and lakes will be systematically recorded. Beyond fish, molluscs, and crustaceans, the database will also include sponges, corals, leeches, seaweed, sand, and salt. The aim is to form a comprehensive picture of (a) open-sea fishing, (b) sponge fishing, (c) inland fisheries, (d) fish farming, (e) salt pans and marine salt production, and (f) coral fishing, leech cultivation, and seaweed harvesting.

The aquatic world is approached as a unified productive space, within which fishing activity is situated and its historical evidence is examined. The repository will include regulatory information (decrees, laws), as well as economic records such as budgets, price lists of marine products, local and customs tariffs, the imposition of extraordinary taxes, import–export tables, interstate trade agreements, and related material. Thus, a focused body of information will be created, readily accessible and immediately usable for research, forming the first digital repository dedicated to fisheries and the resources of the aquatic environment. This repository will constitute a key resource for the further development of research, not only in the social sciences but also in the natural sciences.