What would there be in fish that would protect against scurvy? From a book on life in the fur trade:
"Yet despite all these efforts {I'll detail them if you want} scurvy was not really controlled at York until the mid 1820s, when large supplies of fish were added to employees winter and spring diet. These fish were frozen as soon as they were caught and brought in enormous numbers to York where they helped to avoid excessive reliance on preserved foods like salt beef and pork in the winter diet."
From The Most Respectable Place in the Territory: Everyday Life in the Hudson's Bay Company Service--York Factory, 1788- 1870 National Historic Parks and Sites Canadian Parks Service Environment Canada author Michael Payne
What was in the fish that provided ascorbic acid to protect from scurvy? (Maybe there was seal included in the fish count?)
This is very interesting. Of the fish listed, only four or five fish would be possible, I think. Most likely would be jack, and that has quite a bit of C. Pickerel has none. Trout may have, but lake trout is not included in the list and neither is char, a type of trout. The other fish common there, sturgeon and whitefish, has none also. It seems reasonable it was jack. There may have been some ocean fish included, but I imagine the fishing was done inland. Thank you very much for the link.
