Origins of Russian fishing business in the Lower Reaches of the Volga region (late XV – early XVII century)

Abstract: The article considers peculiarities of development of Russian commercial fishing in the Lower Reaches of the Volga region in the epoch of formation of the united Russian state. To study this process, the water area of the river from the influx of Bolshoy Cheremshan in it to the Volga-Don Portage. Researchers of fish resources of the European Southeast of Russia believe that in terms of their riches valuable species of fish these fishing grounds were inferior only to the lower Volga and Northern Caspian. The chronological framework of the work covers the period from the first attempts of penetration of Russian fishermen into the Volga in the late XV century. and continued until the appearance of regular fishing business after the annexation of the Middle and Lower Volga region to the Moscow state. The source for the study of the topic are archival materials from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, as well as written sources already introduced into the scientific circulation and published. The latter include descriptions of foreign and Russian travelers, chronicles, legislative and act material, business and production documents, etc. This problem was practically not subjected to special systemic study in the selected chronological framework. The author concludes that even in the second half of the XVI and early XVII century in the coastal zone of the river, there has been little or no permanent development of fishing and farming populations. The State has only just begun to regulate the allocation of fishing grounds and the regulation of their exploitation. The conclusions obtained during the course of the work provide an initial evolution of the fishing development of this vast region