Greenland Whaling Industry

Timeline

1. 1591–1595Amsterdam · North HollandRising demand for whale oil in urban lighting, soap manufacturing, and textiles led Dutch and English merchants to invest in equipping specialized whaling ships, shifting from traditional Bay of Biscay operations to offshore North Atlantic whaling, with Greenland and Spitsbergen becoming new target fishing grounds.
2. 1593–1600Spitsbergen · SpitsbergenFrom the 1590s, English and Dutch fleets sailed each summer to Arctic waters to hunt right whales and bowheads, rendering whale oil in tryworks aboard ship or on shore. Basque whalers had earlier developed some of the techniques, and the English and Dutch expanded fleet size and operating range on this basis.
3. 1596–1600North Atlantic · North AtlanticEnglish, Dutch, and Basque whalers competed for fishing grounds and rendering sites in Arctic waters; the expansion of the 1590s paved the way for the Dutch whaling monopoly and English commercial development of northern waters in the early 17th century, and also increased ecological change around Greenland and contact with the Inuit.