Environmental, Economic and Social Accounts of the Silver Darlings: The Rise and Fall of the Herring Industry in Wick

This study contributes to the accounting history literature as it focuses on the development of the herring industry from the 18th century to its demise in the latter part of the 20th century. We also contribute to the environmental, ecological and extinction accounting research as the paper focuses on humans and herring, highlighting the interdependency between the society dependent on the herring industry and the impact on this important fish species of the industry’s economic success. The paper seeks to tell a story of humans and herring intertwined for more than two hundred years. The paper emphasises the interdependencies of human and non-human species: nature is not separate from people. The paper also tells a story of the historical development of the industry, accounting for numbers of herring landed, herring cured, people working in the industry, numbers of boats and related socio-economic factors. Specifically this paper explores the development of the herring industry in Wick, a small town in Northern Scotland but one whose growth arose solely from the fishing of herring. The herring were so important to the development of Wick and other coastal towns that they became known as the Silver Darlings. The paper aims to analyse a wide array of accounts pertaining to the herring industry, from financial and economic accounts of the businesses operating in the Wick herring industry, to social accounts of their employees, to environmental and ecological accounts of the herring as a species and the impact on herring of the industry’s meteoric growth.