The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Our Disappearing Fisheries

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Our Disappearing Fisheries

by Mark Kurlansky (Author)

Synopsis

Will most of the major fisheries of the world be exhausted by 2048, as has been claimed? Have the number of large fish in the ocean decreased by 90 per cent over the past 50 years, as has been asserted by a respected scientist? Are 60 per cent of the fish species studied by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation either fully exploited or depleted, as one of their reports attests? Fishing at sea, an ancient trade and a way of life that has defined coastal towns throughout history, may be coming to an end. The culture and traditions of coastal Britain and of seagoing nations everywhere are now threatened with extinction.In his most important book yet, Mark Kurlansky - the celebrated author of "Cod, Salt and The Big Oyster" - explores the fate of our oceans and the decline of our most ancient coastal enterprise. "The Last Fish Tale" sends up a timely distress flare but one which brilliantly illuminates a colourful, exuberant and poignant landscape, from Newlyn in Cornwall to Gloucester in Massachusetts - a fishing village first settled by Englishmen in the early 1600s. The result is a cultural, economic, environmental and culinary bouillabaisse - the most compelling fish tale of our time.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
Published: 03 Jul 2008

ISBN 10: 0224082450
ISBN 13: 9780224082457
Book Overview: Bestselling author Mark Kurlansky tells the story - past, present and future - of fishing at sea and the demise of an entire way of life.

Media Reviews
Praise for Mark Kurlansky's The Big Oyster
Part treatise, part miscellany, unfailingly entertaining.
-The New York Times
Suffused with [Kurlansky's] pleasure in exploring the city across ground that hasn't already been covered with other writers' footprints.
-Los Angeles Times Book Review
Fascinating stuff . . . [Kurlansky] has a keen eye for odd facts and natural detail.
-The Wall Street Journal
Kurlansky packs his breezy book with terrific anecdotes.
-Entertainment Weekly
Magnificent . . . a towering achievement.
-Associated Press
Author Bio
Mark Kurlansky is the author of several bestselling non-fiction titles including Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World (winner of the Glenfiddich Best Food Book Award), The Basque History of the World, Salt: A World History, 1968: The Year that Rocked the World, a short story collection The White Man in the Tree and a novel, Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue.