[shakna]

Afraid not.

In 1760, The Natural and Civil History of the French Dominions in North and South America did absolutely claim that there was some papal decree that otter tail was fish, and beaver was fish, and so on.

But... There's no actual Papal decree, bull, or otherwise in canon law that anyone can find. It's just a good story, not a true one.

[sandworm101]

Which doesnt matter. What maters is whether melville thought it to be true when he wrote the line. The joke/reference would have been understood by readers at the time regardless of whether it was factually true.

2010. Archibishop of New Orleans. Alligator is "fish". Whether or not the pope has an opinion, such things are not fiction.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/03/27/175058833/fo...