Fish and fortune for Holland. The ‘waterschip’, floating fishpond and tug boat and the prosperity of Holland in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. In the province of Flevoland forty wrecks of ‘waterschepen’ have been found, of which twenty have been excavated and only two have been published. These fishing vessels date between 1500 and 1700 and played an important role in feeding the fast growing population of the urban centres in Holland. The ships form an interesting group of vessels because they have been in use over a long time-period, serving different functions (fish transport, fishing vessel and tug-boat). According to historical sources they span an even longer time-frame: from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century.