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NatioNal MaritiMe MuseuM-palais de chaillotparis 16th

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Gadus morhua: Atlantic cod

CAUGHT IN THE NET

7 OCT. 201526 JUNE 2016

A fascinating exhibition, full of fabulous stories and pictures!

The exhibition tells the story of deep-sea cod fishing in the distant waters of Newfoundland, Labrador, Iceland and Greenland. Five centuries of incredible technical, economic and human challenge and adventure, to exploit a resource long considered to be boundless, even heaven-sent. It is the story of thousands of sailors who set sail every year in difficult and perilous conditions. In the days of sail fishing boats, fishing expeditions lasted up to six months. For the women and children, it was a time of absence, of waiting, of worrying whether the men would return or not... and from the late 19th century onwards, it inspired many artists, writers, painters, illustrators and film-makers whose works will be on show.

A contemporary exhibition: when current affairs enter the museum...

Cod fell victim to overfishing and, in just a few years, all but vanished from the North-West Atlantic in the late 20th century. This story prompts us to ask some bigger questions, such as how can the sea's resources continue to feed a growing population? What can responsible and sustainable fishing be? Which species can the consumer opt for? This exhibition will therefore let the many players in the debate have their say, including scientists, decision-makers, fishermen and shipowners, as well as associations committed to protecting the environment and biodiversity. The sea is our planet's future and the management of marine resources is a major challenge and a critical issue. A few important speakers such as Erik Orsenna and Isabelle Autissier will convincingly remind us of that fact.

AT THE PAlAIs dE CHAIlloT IN PArIs 7 oCTobEr 2015 - 26 JUNE 2016

Leaving Newfoundland bound for Saint-Malo

Albert Brenet (1903-2005)Oil painting, detail, 1936

© National Maritime Museum/P. Dantec/Adagp

CAUGHT IN THE NET

CUrATorsdenis-Michel boëll,General heritage conservation officer, Assistant directorCorinne Pignon, Head of the Exhibition DepartmentPhilippe schmidt, Head of the Multimedia DepartmentWith the assistance of Mathilde Etot and Pauline rolland-sCENoGrAPHyNicolas Groultsylvain roca

ExHIbITIoN GrAPHICsGraphica

GrAPHIC dEsIGN ANd ProdUCTIoN

H bronx agence (Paris)-THE NATIoNAl MArITIME MUsEUM woUld lIkE To THANk THE followING lENdErs: Saint-Malo Municipal Archives; Association Mémoire et Patrimoine des Terre-Neuvas, Saint-Malo; Rennes Métropole Library; National Centre for Plastic Arts, Paris; Château des ducs de Bretagne. Nantes History Museum; Loïc Josse; Marie-Edith Cornélius, Compagnie des Pêches; Laval Museum Collections; the Commune of Lantic; La Manche Departmental Archives; Tatihou Maritime Museum, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue; the Maison d’Artiste de la Grande-Vigne, Dinan; Marcel Mochet; the Architecture and Heritage Media Library; the Baron Martin Museum, Gray; the Museum of Art and History, Granville; the Museum of Art and History, Saint-Brieuc; the Museum of History, Saint-Malo; the Museum of Britanny, Rennes; Cancale Museum; Fécamp Museum; the Breton Departmental Museum, Quimper; Dunkirk Museum of Fine Arts; Nantes Museum of Fine Arts; Rouen Museum of Fine Arts; the Harbour Museum, Dunkirk; the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace, Honfleur; the National Museum of Natural History, Paris; Prunier Restaurant; Société des Œuvres de Mer, Paris.As well as all the private collectors who wished to remain anonymous.-Exhibition produced with the support of SEMMARIS

-Exhibition based on the "Newfoundland – Terre-Neuvas" exhibitions produced in 2013-2014 by the Museum of Brittany, Saint-Brieuc Museum of Art and History, Saint-Malo History Museum and Granville Museum of Art and History.

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From the late 15th century and for almost five cen-turies afterwards, thousands of men set sail every year to fish for cod on the banks of Newfound-land and Iceland. Leaving their homes on the At-lantic Coast and the English Channel, the fisher-men would set off for 6 to 8 months bound for the North Atlantic waters where the fish were abun-dant and the fishing nothing short of miraculous.

What about this cod, this "white gold" of the cold North Atlantic seas? Gadus morhua is a voracious fish which can grow up to one and a half metres long and ninety kilos in weight. Although in the past it was quite common to catch cod weighing thirty kilos, nowadays the fish caught only weigh

between three and five kilos. Cod can be easily recognised by its greenish-brown skin, white belly, three dorsal fins and two ventral fins, but mostly by its chin barbel and large mouth.

Over the centuries, this fish has been the focus of an extraordinary economic, technical and human adventure. Deep sea cod fishing became a vital economic activity - from line fishing in dory boats to industrial scale trawling - a profitable yet perilous saga whose history involves many French ports on the English Channel and the Atlantic.

dEEP sEA fIsHING, HIsTorICAl ANd GEo-GrAPHICAl lANdMArks

Unloading the trawlers at FécampPoster, ordered by the French Western Railway Company

Camille Marchand1931

Fécamp Museum Collection© Imagery

The landing of the codRichard Le Blanc

Embellished drawing, early 20th century© Granville Museum of Art and History

Still-life of fish on a beachTatihou Island Maritime Museum© CD50/Tatihou Museum

Landing the cod at GranvilleGranville Museum of Art and History Collection© DR

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THE PEoPlE INvolvEd INdEEP sEA fIsHING

You can't go fishing without a boat. Up until the late 18th century, people used all sorts of boats for fishing. In the 19th century, the more specialised three-masted schooner, from which the dories set out to drop their lines, and the topsail schooner made their appearance. 1902 ushered in the era of the engine trawler which would lead to the gradual decline of traditional sailing ships.

Behind each boat would be a shipowner who supplied it with equipment and provisions and also enrolled the captain. The captain decided on fishing strategies and hired the crew. The men setting off for Newfoundland could be farmers or craftsmen. As for those heading towards the dangerous seas of Iceland, they were tradesmen.

From the ship's deck to the nets, an entire economy grew and fortunes were made thanks to this fishing resource. "For every man at sea, there are five on land": coopers, sailmakers and shipyard workers were all involved in this industry which over the centuries continually developed its fishing techniques.

The cod consumer also plays a key role in this adventure. In the middle of the 20th century, a large part of French society considered cod to be a poor man's dish so it was given the name "cabillaud" and sold from then on in France under that name, either fresh or in frozen fillets. Until then, the large number of days of abstinence (meat-free) prescribed by the Church made cod very popular. Cod was preserved all year round and eaten salted and dried. In our collective memory, we still associate it with the legendary cod liver oil!

Advertisement Eat cod, come summer or winterPrivate collection© DR

The Two Ship’s BoysMichel Briand & Son Collection - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

© Studio Briand Ozon 

brochure The cod consumption advertising committeePrivate collection1950-1960© Jean Darroux Publication/DR

Advertisement Take it!... God’s ordersCod liver oil… Gaston MonierPrivate collection© DR

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AN EPIC HUMAN TAlE

The departure of the cod fishermen on their deep sea fishing expedition brought with it celebrations, such as the Pardon of the Icelanders at Paimpol, a great procession followed by a blessing of the ships. These ceremonies, sometimes religious, sometimes not, used to attract a crowd of onlookers as well as artists and journalists. The blessing of the fleets and the sailors was supposed to protect them from the many dangers at sea, such as the storms and fog in which ships and dories became lost, and from illness and injury, etc.

The fishermen's awful living conditions, working for eighteen hours a day in the freezing cold and the wind, with no hygiene on board, led to the creation of the Société des Œuvres de Mer in 1894. Its hospital ships went straight to the boats on the banks to hand out post, hold Mass and collect the sick. Those who survived these tough trips always thanked the Virgin Mary on their return by going on a pilgrimage, or with a prayer or thanksgiving plaque.

Life was hard back on land, too. In the ports, life without the men meant society was organised in a particular way, with the women taking over and working to support their families while their husbands were away. But what they dreaded most was seeing a black flag flying on the returning ships, for this meant one or more men had died during the trip.... and worst of all was not seeing the ships return at all.

Return from Iceland Albert Guillaume Demarest (1848-1906)Baron Martin Museum Collections, Gray© Baron Martin Museum, Gray

The Newfoundland funeralsHenri Rudaux (1865-1927) Watercolour drawing, between 1875 and 1915© National Maritime Museum/P. Dantec

Blessing of the Newfoundland trawler, Saint Pierre des marinsLechevalier CollectionPhotograph, 1950s© Fécamp Museum Collection

Leaving for NewfoundlandWilly Ronis (1910-2009) 1949© Succession Willy Romis/Distribution Rapho Agency

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The fisherman, portrayed as a "convict of the seas", and his wife a "touching heroine" anxiously awaiting her husband, became popular dramatic figures through the eyes of late 19th century artists.

Pre-19th century representations of deep sea fishing are rather rare. It was The Icelandic Fisherman, the novel by Pierre Loti published in 1886, which made this subject popular, creating a genuine passion in writers and artists alike for fishing in Newfoundland and Iceland. There were novels by Anatole Le Braz and later on by Roger Vercel, drawings and paintings by Albert-Guillaume Desmarest, Paul Signac, Albert Brenet, Mathurin Méheut and Yvonne Jean-Haffen... not to mention The woman from Paimpol by Botrel. The fishermen's widows in particular caught the artists' imaginations. A large number of drawings, paintings and photographs show them praying in front of the "walls of the missing" or staring out to sea from the Widows' Cross.

In the mid-20th century, a more realistic and documentary style of representation followed this lyrical, romantic view. In 1953, Anita Conti published Racleurs d’Océans (Ocean scrapers), in which she describes the fishing trip to Newfoundland which she herself went on and also filmed. In it she was already condemning the overfishing of the seas. This testimonial literature found its most iconic representative in Jean Recher. In Le grand métier (The Great Profession), published in 1977, he retraces his career from ship's boy to captain.

This new evocation of deep sea fishing no doubt resulted from an awareness of the profession's gradual disappearance as the resources became depleted.

bETwEEN MyTH ANd rEAlITyIMAGEs of AN AdvENTUrE

Poster for the film The Icelandic Fisherman By Jacques de Baroncelli (1881-1951), based on the novel by Pierre LotiHenri Rudaux (1870-1927), artist1924Radia production© National Maritime Museum/A. Fux

Saint-Malo, the pardon of the NewfoundlandersPaul Signac (1863-1935)Oil on canvas, 1928Saint-Malo Museum of History© Cavan

Icelandic schooner landing its codMathurin Méheut (1882-1958)1939© Prunier Restaurant, Paris/Adagp 2015

The woman from Paimpol Pierre Lenoir (1878-1953)

Henriot, QuimperPottery, between 1915 and 1930

Saint-Brieuc Museum of Art and History Collection© D. Morin

At the Pardon of the Newfoundlanders Yvonne Jean-Haffen (1895-1993)

Casein on cardboard, between 1930-1935Maison d’Artiste de La Grande-Vigne-Dinan Collection

© Coll. Maison d’Artiste de La Grande-Vigne-Dinan

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The fate of deep sea fishing in Newfoundland was sealed for ever in 1992 when the Canadian government declared a moratorium and then a ban on cod fishing. Stocks once believed to be inexhaustible plummeted in just a few years, victims of overfishing, a phenomenon universally acknowledged today by everyone involved.

However, the taste for seafood shows no signs of slowing and every year 136.2 million tons of fish and shellfish produced from fishing and fish farming are consumed throughout the world. Each French person eats on average 35 kg of fish and shellfish per year, twice as much as in the 1960s.

But the growing consumption of seafood is putting some species under unbearable pressure. The FAO (United Nations food and agriculture organisation) revealed in 2014 that almost 30% of global fish stocks are being exploited at a biologically unsustainable level in the long term. That means that these stocks, which are already jeopardised by pollution and global warming, are set to disappear.

The warnings issued by scientists have led some countries to react. In 2013, the European Union voted for a new common fisheries policy aiming to lay the foundations for sustainable and responsible fishing.Putting it into practice, however, remains complex.

To meet this global challenge of food supply and the environment, the question is: how can we steer our consumption of seafood so as not to jeopardise our future and that of future generations?

THE sTATE of fIsHING TodAy

At seaaround 1902Guillaume Albert Demarest (1848-1906)Oil on canvasFrench public contemporary art collection Formerly kept at the Nantes Museum of Fine ArtsKept at the Rouen Museum of Fine Arts since 2010© Alain Guillard/Nantes Museum of Fine Arts

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THE sEA Is THE fUTUrE of THE EArTHThe history of cod fishing in Newfoundland encourages us to reflect on the consequences of poor marine management, serving as an example. This deep sea fishing which proved so lucrative for centuries made people forget that no resource is inexhaustible. It is therefore up to us to sustainably manage the riches of the oceans which cover 71% of the world's surface. This exhibition will let the many players in this

The sea is our planet's future and the management of marine resources is a major challenge and a critical issue nowadays. Several prominent figures, including Isabelle Autissier (president of the WWF in France), Erik Orsenna (writer and member of the French Academy) and Gilles Bœuf (president of the National Museum of Natural History), will convincingly remind us of that fact.

Therefore, by making the link between the adventure of deep-sea cod fishing and the current situation, the National Maritime Museum wishes its temporary exhibition to address a modern-day issue, so that each of us can consider our respect for marine resources and our own role as a consumer and a global citizen.

debate have their say, including scientists, decision-makers, fishermen and shipowners, as well as associations committed to protecting the environment and biodiversity. Visitors will be able to interact with these different players through innovative multimedia devices and ask them about topical issues, such as deep sea fishing, discards, fish farming and the future of fishing and fishermen. But because they are consumers too, visitors will be offered tools for better responsible and sustainable consumption.

Isabelle Autissier / Erik orsenna / Claire Nouvian © National Maritime Museum/P. Schmidt

To complement the tour, a mobile app will enable visitors to access all the interviews presented in the exhibition. This app can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple and Google stores.

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3rd EdITIoN of THE "fIsHING CINEMA" sErIEs16 - 18 March 2015Maritime Museum auditorium

Readings interspersed with both vintage and contemporary film productions from fictional and "reality" cinema to broaden your knowledge of the

deep sea fishing trips, including, among other films: La morue était trop belle by Alain Guellaff, Mémoires de brume (Memories of the fog) by Alain-Michel Blanc, Racleurs d’océan (Ocean scrapers) by Anita Conti and Le Crabe tambour (The Drummer Crab) by Pierre Schoendoerffer. Each screening will be followed by a discussion with the audience.

Details of the series programme will be provided at a later date.

lECTUrE sErIEs

"Towards sustainable fishing?" lessons to be learned from the history of deep sea fishing

November 2015 - June 2016

A series of speeches by experts, scientists, fishermen, historians and associations committed to protecting the environment and biodiversity. Remembering the iconic history of cod fishing and the deep sea fishing trips leads to considering the current issues of resource management for responsible and sustainable fishing.

• Thursday 19 November at 7 pm: "Scientists helping to deliver sustainable fishing" Alain Biseau, advisor - coordinator of fishery expertise at the IFREMER; Didier Gascuel, professor, director of the AGROCAMPUS WEST fisheries centre• Thursday 3 December at 7 pm: "Did you say sustainable? The NGOs on board" - Claire Nouvian, president and founder of the BLOOM association- Hélène Bourges, oceans campaign officer at Greenpeace France- A WWF France representative- Stéphan Beaucher, fisheries management public policy advisorThe January - June 2016 series programme will be provided at a later date.

GUIdEd ToUrs

• Tour for adults and children over 14: Deep sea fishing in Newfoundland and elsewhere

This is the story of thousands of sailors who, from the Middle Ages onwards, set off on long trips to fish for cod, often dangerous for the men and for their families an arduous wait for their return. From the pioneers of the past to the latest trawl-ers of the present, a highly lucrative economy grew up, based on a resource considered to be inexhaustible. A rich artistic output bears witness to this business which came to an abrupt end in the late 20th century.

Saturdays at 3 pm (alternating with the family tour)

• Family tour for adults and children over 7:The Icelandic fisherman and other tales

The great deep sea fishing adventure inspired a large number of authors from the late 19thcentury onwards.The tour is punctuated with selected readings describing the fishermen setting sail, the initiation of a novice, the cold, stormy weather, the return home... The tales drawn from epic texts and novels for youngsters take us off to distant seas.

Saturdays at 3 pm (alternating with the tour for adults)

• Maritime Museum/ Orsay Museum inter-museum trail Two tours on the same day to explore a common theme:19th century coastal views

19 th centur y ar t i s t s se i zed upon the coastal theme. The exhibition reveals the myths and realities of the fishermen and their families through social representations and idealised views of their everyday lives. At the Orsay Museum, the various artistic movements express the attraction for coasts and shorelines, places where artists found new inspiration.

Dates to be determined - 11 am at the Maritime Museum and 2.30 pm at Orsay

• For disabled visitors

• Guided tour with FSL - For deaf visitors (duration 1½ hours)Saturday 9 January and Saturday 19 March at 11 am

• Adapted tour trail - For visually-impaired visitors, fact sheets in Braille and large print- For visitors with impaired hearing, films and screenings with French subtitles

Information and bookings on +33 (0)1 53 65 69 53 and at musee-marine.fr

CUlTUrAl ProGrAMME for AdUlTs

La morue était trop belle (Cod was too lovely)Alain Guellaff, directorDocumentary, 2012© Poischiche Films

Auditorium © National Maritime Museum/A. Fux

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CoMMENTAry sUITAblE for yoUNG vIsITors

• A fun trail: The mystery of the missing cod

A brightly-coloured booklet for young visitors to take with them around the exhibition. There are observation games and puzzles to solve. An active and entertaining way to learn about the adven-tures of cod fishing and the risks of poor marine management.

For children aged 7 and above. Free, produced in partnership with the Paris-Mômes magazine

• A play area: The ship's boys' deck

In the middle of the exhibition is a special children's area. Discover the secrets of sustainable fishing with some fun activities: large mesh nets, fish which have time to grow, unusual recipes... A giant fun trail even teaches the ship's boys how to catch the right fish!

For children aged 6 - 12. Free access

ToUrs ANd EvENTs for fAMIlIEs ANd sCHools

• storytelling visit for children aged 4-6: The trawler cat

On board an old trawler, a greedy cat dreams about sinking his teeth into the small fish. But which ones shall he choose from among the thousands of species which live in the sea? During the visit, the children have to change the story because the impatient cat does not always practise ocean-friendly fishing.

Wednesdays and school holidays at 3 pm for individuals

• workshop visit for children aged 7-12: In the suroît wind

Dive into the world of deep sea fishing with this activity which explores the exhibition and in-cludes a creative workshop. After having shared the life of a ship's boy during a cod fishing trip, the children learn how to identify endangered fish and make a poetic mobile with their shapes.

Wednesdays and school holidays at 3 pm for individuals

• Guided tour for schools (all levels): From deep sea fishing to sustainable fishing

• Inter-disciplinary trail for secondary school

children: The Icelandic Fisherman and other tales

• Inter-museum trail for year 11 and the sixth form: Are fish going to disappear?

Explore a common theme through the comple-mentary collections in both institutions. The Mar-itime Museum tells the saga of deep sea fishing and the need today to practise sustainable fish-ing. At the Aquarium de la Porte Dorée, pupils are introduced to the naturalistic approach to the marine environment and its protection.

• The keys to the exhibition for teachers

For teachers to familiarise themselves with the topic, there is an on-line educational pack, a pre-view and professional evening with the exhibition curators and educational meetings every month.

CUlTUrAl ProGrAMME for CHIldrEN

Snakes and ladders in the Children's area © National Maritime Museum/C. Castaing

storytelling visit The Trawler Cat for children aged 4-6 © National Maritime Museum/C. Castaing

EvENT for THE GENErAl PUblIC A pop-up restaurant: To the joys of cod!

On Thursday 31 March 2016, the Maritime Museum will open up its restaurant for a day. In partnership with the Guillaume Tirel Hotel Management School in Paris, the general public will be invited to sample the produce of sustainable fishing after visiting the exhibition. An opportunity you won't want to miss! This special buffet will be prepared and served by the pupils themselves!

Information and bookings on +33 (0)1 53 65 69 53 and at musee-marine.fr

School visit teaching aids© National Maritime Museum/C. Castaing

workshop visit In the Suroît wind for children aged 7-12 © National Maritime Museum/C. Castaing

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Copyright for the dissemination of this material is free under the following terms and conditions: press material may only be disseminated in connection with the promotion of the exhibition, presented in Paris, from 7 October 2015 to 26 June 2016.

The selected illustrations must comply with the specific copyright as indicated in the captions.

PrEss vIsUAls

PrACTICAl INforMATIoN

To ProMoTE THE ExHIbITIoN CAUGHT IN THE NET, THE NATIoNAl MArITIME MUsEUM AUTHorIsEs THE PrEss To UsE THE PHoToGrAPHs of THE ArTworks PrEsENTEd oN THIs PAGE.

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7 october 2015 - 26 June 2016National Maritime Museum - Palais de Chaillot17, place du Trocadéro Paris 16th districtmusee-marine.fr-oPENING TIMEs Monday, wednesday, Thursday and friday: 11 am - 6 pm last admission at 5.15 pmsaturday and sunday: 11 am - 7 pm last admission at 6.15 pmClosed on Tuesdays, 25th december, 1st January and 1st May-AdMIssIoN fEEsfull price: 10 euros reduced price: 8 euros 7 - 18 year olds: 5 euros 3 - 6 year olds: 2 eurosAdmission fees include access to the permanent collectionsand the temporary exhibition.Advance ticket purchase: musee-marine.fr; ticketnet.fr; fnac.com; Fnac and affiliated sales outlets.

1 Exhibition poster Bronx agence (Paris)

2 J. Pennanéac’h Album1933Saint-Malo Museum of History© Pennanéac’h/Saint-Malo Museum of History

3 Landing the cod at GranvilleGranville Museum of Art and History Collection© DR

4 saint Pierre des marins1953Lechevalier Collection© Fécamp Museum Collection

5 Return from Iceland Albert Guillaume Demarest (1848-1906)Baron Martin Museum Collections, Gray© Baron Martin Museum, Gray

6 Icelandic schooner landing its codMathurin Méheut (1882-1958)Oil on canvas, 1939© Prunier Restaurant, Paris/Adagp 2015

7 Saint-Malo, the pardon of the NewfoundlandersPaul Signac (1863-1935)Oil on canvas, 1928Saint-Malo Museum of History© Cavan

8 At the Pardon of the Newfoundlanders Yvonne Jean-Haffen (1895-1993)Oil on canvas, between 1930 and 1935Maison d’Artiste de La Grande-Vigne-Dinan Collection© Coll. Maison d’Artiste de La Grande-Vigne-Dinan

9 Poster for the film The Icelandic Fisherman By Jacques de Baroncelli (1881-1951), based on the novel by Pierre LotiHenri Rudaux (1870-1927), artist1924Radia production© National Maritime Museum/A. Fux

10 Advertisement Take it! God's ordersCod liver oil… Gaston MonierPrivate collection© DR

11 Poster for the film Captain CourageousBy Victor Fleming (1889-1949),based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling 1937MetroGoldwynMeyerImage Perron/Kharbine-Tapabor

12 The cod consumption advertising committeePrivate collectionBrochure, 1950-1960© Jean Darroux Publication, Paris/DR

13 Crew of the cod trawler Grande HerminePort of Tromsø, Norway © Marcel Mochet

14 on board the cod trawler Grande Hermine in the Norwegian sea and the barents sea© Marcel Mochet

15 Grande Hermine at the foot of the lofoten Islands in the Norwegian sea© Marcel Mochet

In spite of our efforts to find the authors and rights holders, some could not be identified and we remain at their disposal should they wish to make themselves known.

CAUGHT IN THE NET

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PRESS OFFICERSOdile Charbonneau & Silvia Simeone

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 65 69 47E-mail: presse@musee-marine.fr

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