Quote:This summary is derived from Chapter 1 of "Basque Whaling in Labrador in the 16th Century", by Jean-Pierre Proulx, published by the Canadian Parks Service, 1993.
The Basques who voyaged to Red Bay and other Labrador ports during the 16th century held a long heritage of whaling. From the 12th to the 15th century the Basques pursued an intensive whale hunt during winter months in their home waters, the Bay of Biscay. Late in this period the Basques began expanding their activities northward, reaching Iceland by the year 1412 according to one writer. >From Iceland, an expansion to northern North America was a logical next step.
Historians have suggested a number of reasons for this territorial expansion of whaling activities:
* Whales may have been over-hunted in the Bay of Biscay, resulting in a depletion of whale populations;
* Change in ocean currents may have occurred, causing a reduction in the fish and other sea life upon which whales fed, which in turn forced whales to seek more suitable feeding areas;
* Whale population may have, in time, instinctively moved away from a place which was (for them) highly dangerous;
* The desire to expand whaling from a seasonal (winter) activity in the Bay of Biscay to a year-round industry may have spurred the Basques to follow whale populations to their summer habitats.
Writers and historians have debated whether the Basques may have reached North America before Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492. The weight of opinion today is that they did not. There are no historical documents demonstrating that they did, and there are no oral traditions in the Basque country of a pre-Columbian exploration of the New World. Fifteenth and 16th century Basque seafarers were not explorers or colonists in the tradition of some other European nations. Indeed, rather than publicize their voyages, the Basques desired to keep their discoveries secret in order to protect them from competitors.
The earliest known archival documents referring to Basques in North America date to the early 16th century, beginning in 1517. During the first half of the century the northern Basques, ruled by the French crown, established a cod fishery in the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In the years after 1540 the southern Basques (ruled by Spain) developed the whaling industry in Labrador waters known to them as the Grand Bay. The decades after 1545 saw a tremendous growth in the Basque economy, spurred by profits from Labrador whaling.