King Charles II of England granted letters patent to the Company of the Royal Fishery of England in 1677. The company consisted of a governor, sub-governor, deputy governor, and 12 committees for a Court of Assistants to manage the company's business. The Company originated out of previous fishing companies, all of which had failed for various reasons.

A joint stock company, members could fish in and on all coasts, inlets, rivers, and seas belonging to the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland and in any other parts of the king's dominion in which fishing rights were not already granted. Company members also had the right to transport and sell their fish and oil made from fish within England and in other markets.

The newest fishery company had a rocky start due to the ongoing wars between European powers. The company was under the rule of the Duke of York, King Charles II's younger brother. The Protestant English did not trust York's Roman Catholic religion and so were reluctant to back the fishery, including after Charles II died and York took the throne as King James II.

In 1690, after the Glorious Revolution and the succession of King William of Orange and Queen Mary to the throne, the Royal Fishery was dissolved. It appears from collection materials, however, that attempts were made immediately thereafter and during Queen Anne's reign to reconstitute a Royal Fishery joint-stock company. In the 1710s or 1720s it also appears there were attempts to consolidate this enterprise with the South Sea Company.

[Information retrieved from Elder, John R. The Royal Fishery Companies of the Seventeenth Century, James Maclehose and Sons: Glasgow, 1912, pages 111-115; and collection materials.]