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New Statesman
a day ago
- General
- New Statesman
We should be eating oily fish – but what's the catch?
The government has, for some time, been trying to get a reluctant population to eat fish – preferably oily fish such as mackerel, herring or salmon – at least twice a week. It began campaigning around 1563, urging people to add Wednesday as a 'fissh daye' to Friday, still observed as a fast day even in newly Protestant England. It was for the national health: not the well-being of individuals, but the country's economic and military might. Elizabeth I's government, flinching at the threat from Spain, aimed to boost 'the nursery of the navy', the fishing fleet. Fish would eke out the nation's limited beef supplies, in demand from a growing and increasingly wealthy population. But neither fasting nor fish were popular and the policy was dropped. In the 18th century there was another attempt. Humiliated by defeat in the American War of Independence, parliament looked instead to develop north and west coastal Scotland, which had no large-scale fishing industry. Inconveniently located Highlanders were cleared from their villages in favour of sheep and packed off to the maritime margins to become crofters and fishing folk. The expanding herring industry attracted the attention of Adam Smith. To relieve poverty, he argued, subsidise the small and local. Bounties (subsidies) on huge fishing vessels simply ended up in the pockets of wealthy Londoners. Those small boats hardly made a dent in Scotland's vast shoals. Daniel Defoe described the Pentland Firth as 'one-third water and two-thirds fish' in the 1720s. Donald Murray's Herring Tales (2022) describes how young Highlanders and Islanders followed the 'numberless armies' throughout the season from Orkney to Lowestoft. For much of the 19th century, netting, gutting, barrelling, curing and selling fish provided jobs (demanding, cold and smelly, as they were) and food through small, usually family-owned boats. The breakfast kipper became part of the much-admired Scottish breakfast (particularly plump, rubicund fish became known as 'Glasgow Magistrates'). Smoked fish gave factory workers something 'tasty' for their tea, and extra-salted fish were given to enslaved workers in the Caribbean. Today, we take a 'healthy diet' to be a personal matter. But the old sense of the health of the economy is indissoluble from bodily health, thanks to the cost of the NHS. Oily fish – salmon, herrings, sardines, sprats, mackerel – have found themselves recommended anew by government for cardiovascular health, thanks to their micronutrients and Omega-3 – essential fatty acids that our bodies cannot make themselves. Critics and conservationists say that humans should simply eat the source of Omega-3 directly, by eating as far up the food chain as possible. Ditch lice-infested fish-farm salmon; instead eat the tiny silver anchovies, sardines, herring – the small fry that are turned into fishmeal. This is cheap, healthy fast food (though, admittedly, they can be whiffy in the kitchen). Traditional recipes tend to be quick and uncomplicated: a flash under the grill, some bread, butter and something sharp like lemon, dill pickle, capers, gooseberries or rhubarb. Potatoes often feature. Smoked mackerel flaked into mashed potato make quick fishcakes, without the smell lingering. Both herring and mackerel take kindly to a devil of mustard and cayenne. The Sicilian pasta con le sarde, an ancient, pre-tomato pasta sauce of sardines, fennel, pine nuts and raisins, takes as long to make as pasta takes to boil. A few anchovies, cooked with onions, give an umami boost to a tomato-based sauce. If there is a lesson in these contrasting stories – the Elizabethan proclamation vs the Adam Smith subsidies – it is that if the legislature wants to change the way the population eats, it must put some money into it; proclamations or their modern equivalent, 'guidelines', don't work by themselves. So much for our economic and personal health – what about the oceans? Smith was right for a reason he couldn't have foreseen: small boats don't wreck the marine ecosystem as huge trawlers do. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe If there are to be plenty more fish in the sea – enough for us to eat our two portions a week – small might be the way to go in the kitchen, as it is in water. [See also: 150 years of the bizarre Hans Christian Andersen] Related
Metro
3 days ago
- General
- Metro
Archaeologists discover 250-year-old shipwreck on remote island
Hiyah Zaidi Published July 24, 2025 3:55pm Link is copied Comments A 250-year-old shipwreck was discovered on the island of Sanday, Orkney, after a school boy uncovered the ribs of the wooden ship poking through the dunes of a remote Scottish beach. This discovery resulted in a team of archaeologists, scientists, and local historians uncovering the vessel's long-lost history. And now, after dedicated research, an answer to its story has emerged (Picture: Wessex Archaeology/PA Wire) Researchers have revealed that the wreck is likely to be the Earl of Chatham, which is an 18th-century warship from the American War of Independence. After the war, the ship had a second life hunting whales in the Arctic, but met a stormy demise in the 'cradle of shipwrecks' in 1788 (Picture: AP) Ben Saunders (pictured), senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, said: 'It is thanks to our dedicated team of community researchers and the evidence they have gathered means we have been able to identify the Sanday Wreck with a reasonable degree of confidence. Throughout this project, we have learned so much about the wreck, but also about the community in Sanday in the 1780s. Sanday was infamous for shipwrecks at the time, called 'the cradle of shipwrecks in Scotland', but the community was equally well-known for its hospitality, as it looked after sailors who fell afoul of the area's stormy seas' (Picture: Historic Environment Scotland/PA Wire) The wreck was first discovered in February 2024, after a storm swept away sand that was covering it. It sparked the interest of the island, which is home to around 500 people, and around 270 shipwrecks have been recorded around the 20-square-mile island since the 15th century. Looking at the age of the timber through wood rings revealed that the ship came from southern England in the middle of the 18th century, when record keeping started to begin thoroughly (Picture: Wessex Archaeology/PA Wire) Further research revealed that before it had a life as the Earl of Chatham, it was the HMS Hind, a 24-gun Royal Navy frigate which was built in Chichester in 1749. It had a massive military career, where it helped Britain control Canada from France during the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s. In the 1770s, it served as a convoy escort during Britain's failed effort to hold onto its American colonies. But in 1784, it was sold off and renamed, becoming a whaling ship, hunting the huge mammals in the Arctic waters off Greenland (Picture: Orkney Islands Council/PA Wire) But in 1788, while the ship was heading out on a whaling trip, it was wrecked in bad weather off Sanday. Turning old Royal Navy ships into whaling ships was common, as their build allowed them to withstand the icy conditions of British whaling routes. The Earl of Chatham completed four seasons in the Arctic before meeting its end in the Bay of Lopness in March 1788. It carried 56 sailors on board at the time, but they all survived (Picture: Orkney Islands Council/PA Wire) Now, the timbers are being preserved in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre, where they will stay for around two years. Keeping the timbers in a tank helps prevent them from decaying, because as soon as they are removed from the sea they start to dry out and break down (Picture: Historic Environment Scotland/PA Wire)
Los Angeles Times
23-07-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
Science and local sleuthing identify a 250-year-old shipwreck on a Scottish island
LONDON — When a student going for a run on the beach found the ribs of a wooden ship poking through the dunes on a Scottish island, it sparked a hunt by archaeologists, scientists and local historians to uncover its story. Through a mix of high-tech science and community research, they have an answer. Researchers announced Wednesday that the vessel is very likely the Earl of Chatham, an 18th-century warship that saw action in the American War of Independence before a second life hunting whales in the Arctic — and then a stormy demise. 'I would regard it as a lucky ship, which is a strange thing to say about a ship that's wrecked,' said Ben Saunders, senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that helped community researchers conduct the investigation. 'I think if it had been found in many other places, it wouldn't necessarily have had that community drive, that desire to recover and study that material, and also the community spirit to do it,' Saunders said. The wreck was discovered in February 2024 after a storm swept away sand covering it on Sanday, one of the rugged Orkney Islands that lie off Scotland's northern tip. It excited interest on the island of 500 people, whose history is bound up with the sea and its dangers. Around 270 shipwrecks have been recorded around the 20-square-mile (50-square-kilometer) island since the 15th century. Local farmers used their tractors and trailers to haul the 12 tons of oak timbers off the beach, before local researchers set to work trying to identify it. 'That was really good fun, and it was such a good feeling about the community — everybody pulling together to get it back,' said Sylvia Thorne, one of the island's community researchers. 'Quite a few people are really getting interested in it and becoming experts.' Dendrochronology — the science of dating wood from tree rings — showed the timber came from southern England in the middle of the 18th century. That was one bit of luck, Saunders said, because it coincides with 'the point where British bureaucracy's really starting to kick off' and detailed records were being kept. 'And so we can then start to look at the archive evidence that we have for the wrecks in Orkney,' Saunders said. 'It becomes a process of elimination. 'You remove ones that are Northern European as opposed to British, you remove wrecks that are too small or operating out of the north of England and you really are down to two or three … and Earl of Chatham is the last one left.' Further research found that before it was the Earl of Chatham, the ship was HMS Hind, a 24-gun Royal Navy frigate built in Chichester on England's south coast in 1749. Its military career saw it play a part in the expansion — and contraction — of the British Empire. It helped Britain wrest control of Canada from France during the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s, and in the 1770s served as a convoy escort during Britain's failed effort to hold onto its American colonies. Sold off by the navy in 1784 and renamed, the vessel became a whaling ship, hunting the huge mammals in the Arctic waters off Greenland. Whale oil was an essential fuel of the Industrial Revolution, used to lubricate machinery, soften fabric and light city streets. Saunders said that in 1787 there were 120 London-based whaling ships in the Greenland Sea, the Earl of Chatham among them. A year later, while heading out to the whaling ground, it was wrecked in bad weather off Sanday. All 56 crew members survived — more evidence, Saunders says, that this was a vessel blessed with luck. The ship's timbers are being preserved in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre while plans are discussed to put it on permanent display. Saunders said that the project is a model of community involvement in archaeology. 'The community have been so keen, have been so desirous to be involved and to find out things to learn, and they're so proud of it. It's down to them it was discovered, it's down to them it was recovered and it's been stabilized and been protected,' he said. For locals, it's a link to the island's maritime past — and future. Finding long-buried wrecks could become more common as climate change alters the wind patterns around Britain and reshapes the coastline. 'One of the biggest things I've got out of this project is realizing how much the past in Sanday is just constantly with you — either visible or just under the surface,' said Ruth Peace, another community researcher. Lawless writes for the Associated Press.
Toronto Sun
23-07-2025
- General
- Toronto Sun
Science and local sleuthing identify a 250-year-old shipwreck on a Scottish island
Published Jul 23, 2025 • 3 minute read In this image provided by Wessex Archaeology, the Sanday Wreck is seen on the shores of Sanday on Orkney, Feb. 2024. Photo by Wessex Archaeology via AP / AP LONDON — When a schoolboy going for a run found the ribs of a wooden ship poking through the dunes of a remote Scottish beach, it sparked a hunt by archeologists, scientists and local historians to uncover its story. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Through a mix of high-tech science and community research, they have an answer. Researchers announced Wednesday that the vessel is very likely the Earl of Chatham, an 18th-century warship that saw action in the American War of Independence before a second life hunting whales in the Arctic — and then a stormy demise. 'I would regard it as a lucky ship, which is a strange thing to say about a ship that's wrecked,' said Ben Saunders, senior marine archeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that helped community researchers conduct the investigation. 'I think if it had been found in many other places, it wouldn't necessarily have had that community drive, that desire to recover and study that material, and also the community spirit to do it,' Saunders said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In this image provided by Wessex Archaeology, the Sanday Wreck timbers are seen before being placed in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre, on Orkney, Sept 23, 2024. Photo by Fionn McArthur/Wessex Archaeology via AP / AP The wreck was discovered in February 2024 after a storm swept away sand covering it on Sanday, one of the rugged Orkney Islands that lie off Scotland's northern tip. It excited interest on the island of 500 people, whose history is bound up with the sea and its dangers. Around 270 shipwrecks have been recorded around the 20-square-mile (50-square-kilometre) island since the 15th century. Local farmers used their tractors and trailers to haul the 12 tons of oak timbers off the beach, before local researchers set to work trying to identify it. 'That was really good fun, and it was such a good feeling about the community — everybody pulling together to get it back,' said Sylvia Thorne, one of the island's community researchers. 'Quite a few people are really getting interested in it and becoming experts.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Dendrochronology — the science of dating wood from tree rings — showed the timber came from southern England in the middle of the 18th century. That was one bit of luck, Saunders said, because it coincides with 'the point where British bureaucracy's really starting to kick off' and detailed records were being kept. 'And so we can then start to look at the archive evidence that we have for the wrecks in Orkney,' Saunders said. 'It becomes a process of elimination. 'You remove ones that are Northern European as opposed to British, you remove wrecks that are too small or operating out of the north of England and you really are down to two or three … and Earl of Chatham is the last one left.' Wars and whaling Further research found that before it was the Earl of Chatham, the ship was HMS Hind, a 24-gun Royal Navy frigate built in Chichester on England's south coast in 1749. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Its military career saw it play a part in the expansion — and contraction — of the British Empire. It helped Britain wrest control of Canada from France during the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s, and in the 1770s served as a convoy escort during Britain's failed effort to hold onto its American colonies. Sold off by the navy in 1784 and renamed, the vessel became a whaling ship, hunting the huge mammals in the Arctic waters off Greenland. Whale oil was an essential fuel of the Industrial Revolution, used to lubricate machinery, soften fabric and light city streets. Saunders said that in 1787 there were 120 London-based whaling ships in the Greenland Sea, the Earl of Chatham among them. A year later, while heading out to the whaling ground, it was wrecked in bad weather off Sanday. All 56 crew members survived — more evidence, Saunders says, that this was a vessel blessed with luck. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The ship's timbers are being preserved in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre while plans are discussed to put it on permanent display. Saunders said that the project is a model of community involvement in archeology. 'The community have been so keen, have been so desirous to be involved and to find out things to learn, and they're so proud of it. It's down to them it was discovered, it's down to them it was recovered and it's been stabilized and been protected,' he said. For locals, it's a link to the island's maritime past — and future. Finding long-buried wrecks could become more common as climate change alters the wind patterns around Britain and reshapes the coastline. 'One of the biggest things I've got out of this project is realizing how much the past in Sanday is just constantly with you — either visible or just under the surface,' said Ruth Peace, another community researcher. Canada Sunshine Girls Olympics Columnists Sunshine Girls
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First Post
23-07-2025
- General
- First Post
How scientists solved the mystery of the 250-year-old shipwreck that emerged from a Scottish island
Archaeologists and volunteers have identified a 250-year-old shipwreck, which was discovered on the island of Sanday in Scotland's Orkney. They believe it to be the former Royal Navy vessel, HMS Hind, which was renamed once it became a whaling ship. Here's how they unravelled its secrets read more The Sanday Wreck is seen on the shores of Sanday on Orkney. The wreck was discovered in February 2024 after a storm swept away sand covering it. Wessex Archaeology via AP When a schoolboy going for a run found the ribs of a wooden ship poking through the dunes of a remote Scottish beach, it sparked a hunt by archaeologists, scientists and local historians to uncover its story. Through a mix of high-tech science and community research, they have an answer. Researchers announced Wednesday that the vessel is very likely the Earl of Chatham, an 18th-Century warship that saw action in the American War of Independence before a second life hunting whales in the Arctic — and then a stormy demise. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I would regard it as a lucky ship, which is a strange thing to say about a ship that's wrecked,' said Ben Saunders, senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that helped community researchers conduct the investigation. 'I think if it had been found in many other places, it wouldn't necessarily have had that community drive, that desire to recover and study that material, and also the community spirit to do it,' Saunders said. Uncovered after 250 years The wreck was discovered in February 2024 after a storm swept away sand covering it on Sanday, one of the rugged Orkney Islands that lie off Scotland's northern tip. It excited interest on the island of 500 people, whose history is bound up with the sea and its dangers. Around 270 shipwrecks have been recorded around the 50-square-kilometre island since the 15th Century. Local farmers used their tractors and trailers to haul the 12 tonnes of oak timbers off the beach, before local researchers set to work trying to identify it. 'That was really good fun, and it was such a good feeling about the community – everybody pulling together to get it back,' said Sylvia Thorne, one of the island's community researchers. 'Quite a few people are really getting interested in it and becoming experts.' Ben Saunders from Wessex Archaeology supervises the Sanday Wreck timbers as they are placed in a freshwater tank to preserve them. Wessex Archaeology via AP Dendrochronology — the science of dating wood from tree rings — showed the timber came from southern England in the middle of the 18th Century. That was one bit of luck, Saunders said, because it coincides with 'the point where British bureaucracy's really starting to kick off' and detailed records were being kept. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'And so we can then start to look at the archive evidence that we have for the wrecks in Orkney,' Saunders said. 'It becomes a process of elimination. 'You remove ones that are Northern European as opposed to British, you remove wrecks that are too small or operating out of the north of England and you really are down to two or three … and Earl of Chatham is the last one left.' Wars and whaling Further research found that before it was the Earl of Chatham, the ship was HMS Hind, a 24-gun Royal Navy frigate built in Chichester on England's south coast in 1749. Its military career saw it play a part in the expansion — and contraction — of the British Empire. It helped Britain wrest control of Canada from France during the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s, and in the 1770s served as a convoy escort during Britain's failed effort to hold onto its American colonies. Sold off by the navy in 1784 and renamed, the vessel became a whaling ship, hunting the huge mammals in the Arctic waters off Greenland. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Whale oil was an essential fuel of the Industrial Revolution, used to lubricate machinery, soften fabric and light city streets. Saunders said that in 1787 there were 120 London-based whaling ships in the Greenland Sea, the Earl of Chatham among them. A year later, while heading out to the whaling ground, it was wrecked in bad weather off Sanday. All 56 crew members survived — more evidence, Saunders says, that this was a vessel blessed with luck. The Sanday Wreck timbers are seen before being placed in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre, on Orkney. Wessex Archaeology via AP Community effort The ship's timbers are being preserved in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre while plans are discussed to put it on permanent display. Saunders said that the project is a model of community involvement in archaeology. 'The community have been so keen, have been so desirous to be involved and to find out things to learn, and they're so proud of it. It's down to them it was discovered, it's down to them it was recovered and it's been stabilized and been protected,' he said. For locals, it's a link to the island's maritime past — and future. Finding long-buried wrecks could become more common as climate change alters the wind patterns around Britain and reshapes the coastline. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'One of the biggest things I've got out of this project is realizing how much the past in Sanday is just constantly with you — either visible or just under the surface,' said Ruth Peace, another community researcher.
