From Outpost to Outport: A Structural Analysis of the Jersey-Gaspé Cod Fishery, 1767-1886

By Rosemary E. Ommer

Book Overview

In 1766 Gasp became an outpost of the Jersey metropole; in 1886 the Channel island of Jersey abandoned the region, reducing Gasp , on Quebec's Atlantic coast, to Canadian outport status. From Outpost to Outport provides a structural and theoretical examination of the economic relationship between Jersey and Gasp , explaining the development of codfish as a staple which, under merchant capital, secured success for Jersey at the expense of underdevelopment in Gasp .

Using the extensive papers of the firm Charles Robin and Company of Jersey and Paspebiac, and the records of the Jersey mercantile establishment, Rosemary Ommer presents a detailed case study of commodity trade, uncovering the development, function, and strengths and weaknesses of all aspects of the fishery. Her analysis clearly reveals a functional three-point trading system: production in Gasp , management in Jersey, and markets in the Mediterranean, the West Indies, and Brazil.

Employing a new set of methodologies developed for this study, Ommer is able to escape the myopic perspective of works which assume that staple-based development comprises only "good" and "bad" staples that inevitably lead to development and underdevelopment respectively. She has instead produced a rich and complex analysis which broadens our understanding of colonial staple development and commodity trade and introduces new insights on regional development.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0773507302
• ISBN13: 9780773507302
• Release Date: December 1990
• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.