Editing Labourd (section)

===Mariner activities===
[[File:Basques Newfoundland.gif|thumb|Basque fisheries in Canada<br /> (click to enlarge)]]

Labourd, like the other coastal territories of the [[Basque Country (historical territory)|Basque Country]], played an important role in early European exploitation of the Atlantic Ocean.

The earliest document (a bill) that mentions the whale oil or blubber dates from 670. In 1059, Labourdin [[whaling|whalers]] already gave to the viscount the oil of the first captured animal. It seems that Basques disliked the taste of [[whale]]s but made good business selling their meat and oil to the French, Castilian and Flemish. Basque whalers used for this activity the longboats known as [[trainera]]s, that only allowed whaling near the coast or based in a larger ship.

It seems that it was this industry, along with [[cod]]-fishing, is what brought Basque sailors to the North Sea and eventually to Newfoundland. Basque whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador began in the 1530s. By at least the early 17th century Basque whalers had reached Iceland.

The development of the [[rudder]] in Europe seems also a Basque and specifically Labourdine development. Three masted ships appear in a [[fresco]] of [[Estella-Lizarra|Estella]] (Navarre), dating to the 12th century, seals preserved in the Navarrese and Parisian historical archives also show similar ships. The rudder itself is first mentioned as steer "a la Navarraise" or "a la Bayonaise".

After Navarre lost [[Donostia|San Sebastian]] and [[Hondarribia]] to Castile in 1200, it signed a treaty with Bayonne that made it the "port of Navarre" for nearly three centuries, a role that extended also into the Early Modern Age, after Navarre had been annexed by Castile (but both provinces remained autonomous).