About Me
Welcome to my web diary where I talk about my master's thesis!Colonial fisheries in the French Empire and Abel Gruvel
After the loss of their colonial empire, the succeeding regimes in France have tried to carve themselves a place as a true empire throughout the 19th century. In the wake of armies trailed scientists eager to add to the already immense collections of the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle of Paris. At the closing of the century, the Muséum has lost long lost its place of prestige among both the international and the domestic scientific communities. Facing multiple dangers, it decides to engage itself on a new, colonial path. True, the Muséum was no stranger to faraway lands, but it now declared itself the prime actor to help with the development of colonies and assess their resources.
Enter Abel Gruvel (1870-1941). At the start of the 20th century, the naturalist begins a real tour of the French colonies and does scientific missions for the Muséum. His area of expertise is ichtology — that is to say the study of fish. He spends several years in East Africa, Indochina and other parts of the world studying the native species and devising the best way to exploit them. Despite his extent activity, his work has stayed unstudied by historians. His archives are still at the Muséum. It must be said colonial fisheries have not seemed able to rouse interest in francophone historians. Very little works exist concerning the management of fish resources in the colonies, and those that do are concerned with specific places and events. It is only naturel then that my master's thesis should help clear the way for more academic work in this under-researched field.