The Unnatural History of the Sea – Chapter 2: The Origins of Intensive Fishing

Chapter 2: The Origins of Intensive Fishing

Introduction to Early Fishing Practices

• Archaeological Evidence from York:

  • During the eleventh century, Coppergate in Yorvik, one of Britain's largest cities, had renowned metalworkers.

  • Archaeologists uncovered a cod vertebra at the Coppergate site in twentieth-century York, which would have come from a fish over $1$ meter (about $3$ feet) long, considered a giant by modern standards.

  • These bones, along with diaries and chronicles, help reconstruct past daily life regarding fish as food, preferred species, trade patterns, and fish availability.

The Sea-Fishing Revolution (c. $1050$ AD)

• Dramatic Shift in Consumption:

  • University of York archaeologists James Barrett and Alison Locker compiled fish bone records from $127$ digs across England (including Coppergate) covering AD $600$ to $1600$.

  • Around $1050$ AD, within a few decades, there was a dramatic shift from consuming freshwater and migratory fish to exclusively marine species.

  • Dominant species before $1050$ AD (VII-X centuries): Pike, trout, tench, bream, perch (freshwater); salmon, eel, smelt, sea trout (migratory).

  • Dominant species after $1050$ AD (from XI century): Herring, cod, and other cod-like fish such as whiting, haddock, and ling (marine).

  • This