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Salmon : a fish, the earth, and the history of their common fate / Mark Kurlansky.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Ventura, CA : Patagonia, [2020]Copyright date: ©2020Description: 448 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781938340864
  • 1938340868
Contained works:
  • Lichatowich, Jim. Wild Pacific Salmon
  • Gayeski, Nick. Wild Pacific Salmon
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue: A tale of two fisheries -- Part one. The hero. A family matter ; A hero's life -- Part two. A human problem. The original salmon ; Old ways in the new land ; A golden fish arrives in the east ; When it was working ; The white man comes ; Nowhere to run -- Part three. The problem with solutions. Why not make more? ; Sea cattle ; The release -- Part four. The dangerous future. Elegy for the Atlantic ; The ballad of the Pacific ; The golden fish departs -- Epilogue: It concerns us -- Endnotes -- Appendix. Wild Pacific salmon : myths, false assumptions, and a failed management paradigm / Jim Lichatowich and Nick Gayeski.
Summary: A magnificent species whose survival is inextricably tied to the survival of the planet In what he calls "the most important environmental writing" in his long and award-winning career, best-selling author and journalist Mark Kurlansky recounts the sobering history of salmon and their perilous future. Kurlansky employs his signature multicentury storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon and the long list of environmental problems, from habit loss to dams, from hatcheries to fish farms, from industrial pollution to the ravages of climate change, that threaten them. Kurlansky traveled extensively to observe those who both pursue and protect them in the Pacific and the Atlantic, in Japan, Russia, Ireland, Norway, and Iceland. The result is a global history of man's misdirected attempts to manipulate salmon and its environment for his own gain. These fish, uniquely connected to both marine and terrestrial ecology as well as fresh and salt water, are a remarkable natural barometer for the health of the planet. His overriding message is clear: "If salmon don't survive, there is little hope for the survival of the planet."--Publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 639.3756 K96 Available 33111009647013
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Henry David Thoreau wrote, 'Who hears the fishes when they cry?' Maybe we need to go down to the river bank and try to listen."

In what he says is the most important piece of environmental writing in his long and award-winning career, Mark Kurlansky, best-selling author of Salt and Cod , The Big Oyster, 1968, and Milk , among many others, employs his signature multi-century storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon.

During his research Kurlansky traveled widely and observed salmon and those who both pursue and protect them in the Pacific and the Atlantic, in Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Japan, and even the robust but not as frequently visited Kamchatka Peninsula. This world tour reveals an eras-long history of man's misdirected attempts to manipulate salmon and its environments for his own benefit and gain, whether for entertainment or to harvest food.

In addition, Kurlansky's research shows that all over the world these fish, uniquely connected to both marine and terrestrial ecology as well as fresh and salt water, are a natural barometer for the health of the planet. He documents that for centuries man's greatest assaults on nature, from overfishing to dams, from hatcheries to fish farms, from industrial pollution to the ravages of climate change, are evidenced in the sensitive life cycle of salmon.

With stunning historical and contemporary photographs and illustrations throughout, Kurlansky's insightful conclusion is that the only way to save salmon is to save the planet and, at the same time, the only way to save the planet is to save the mighty, heroic salmon.

Appendix by Nick Gayeski and James Lichatowich, further explaining several issues with conservation of salmon.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 380-393) and index.

Prologue: A tale of two fisheries -- Part one. The hero. A family matter ; A hero's life -- Part two. A human problem. The original salmon ; Old ways in the new land ; A golden fish arrives in the east ; When it was working ; The white man comes ; Nowhere to run -- Part three. The problem with solutions. Why not make more? ; Sea cattle ; The release -- Part four. The dangerous future. Elegy for the Atlantic ; The ballad of the Pacific ; The golden fish departs -- Epilogue: It concerns us -- Endnotes -- Appendix. Wild Pacific salmon : myths, false assumptions, and a failed management paradigm / Jim Lichatowich and Nick Gayeski.

A magnificent species whose survival is inextricably tied to the survival of the planet In what he calls "the most important environmental writing" in his long and award-winning career, best-selling author and journalist Mark Kurlansky recounts the sobering history of salmon and their perilous future. Kurlansky employs his signature multicentury storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon and the long list of environmental problems, from habit loss to dams, from hatcheries to fish farms, from industrial pollution to the ravages of climate change, that threaten them. Kurlansky traveled extensively to observe those who both pursue and protect them in the Pacific and the Atlantic, in Japan, Russia, Ireland, Norway, and Iceland. The result is a global history of man's misdirected attempts to manipulate salmon and its environment for his own gain. These fish, uniquely connected to both marine and terrestrial ecology as well as fresh and salt water, are a remarkable natural barometer for the health of the planet. His overriding message is clear: "If salmon don't survive, there is little hope for the survival of the planet."--Publisher.

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