Cambridge, York university researchers find origins of Medieval sea-fisheries

[Michael]

Interesting article tracing how medieval fishermen moved from freshwater to saltwater fishing.

A sea change: How freshwater fish slump forced medieval men to brave the oceans

Medieval fishermen first went to sea 1,000 years ago because of a steep decline in freshwater fish, according to scientists.

Researchers from Cambridge and York University studied and dated fish bones found in archaeological sites around the north-western part of Europe and compared historical records.

They found there were fewer species of freshwater fish, which became smaller over time. Both over-fishing and pollution are thought to be to blame for the decline which caused a major change in the diet of our ancestors.

Read the full article here.

The article provides an ironic and sad commentary on how we are forcing ourselves into deeper and deeper waters by overfishing our resources.