The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and What We Eat

by Charles Clover (Author)

• New

  Hardcover
  2006

  $33.62

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.43

  We have reached a pivotal moment for fishing, with seventy-five percent of the world's fish stocks either fully exploited or overfished. If nothing is done to stop the squandering of fish stocks the life of the oceans will face collapse and millions of people could starve. Fish is the aspirational food for Western society, the healthy, weight-conscious choice, but those who eat and celebrate fish often ignore the fact that the fishing industry, although as technologically advanced as space travel, has an attitude to conservation 10,000 years out of date. Trawling on an industrial scale in the North Sea takes 16 lbs of dead marine animals to produce just 1lb of sole. Regulation isn't working, fishermen must cheat or lose money, dolphins and other wildlife (seabirds, turtles, sharks) are killed unnecessarily and fish stocks are collapsing despite the warnings. The End of the Line looks at the problem and proves that we, as consumers, have to change if the situation is to improve.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $3.43

  Fish is the aspirational food for Western society, the healthy, weight-conscious choice, but those who eat and celebrate fish often ignore the fact that fishing is an industry as technologically advanced as space travel, with an attitude to conservation 10,000 years out of date. Trawling on an industrial scale in the North Sea smashes everything it does not catch, taking 16 lbs of dead marine animals to produce just 1lb of sole. Regulation isn't working, with fishermen losing money, dolphins dying unnecessarily and fish stocks collapsing, despite the warning of the extinction of cod in the seas off Cape Cod. Because of the shortage of traditional varieties the market has moved on, competing, sometimes illegally, with local fishermen in the waters off Africa, the Caribbean, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The End of the Line also looks at the role of conservationists, the governments and multi-national companies and considers some models for recovery, for example how Barents Sea cod, Icelandic cod, North Sea herring have been rescued from near extinction, the possibilities of fish farming and the potential of locally managed offshore marine reserves. Charles Clover's book is not only timely: it is absolutely necessary. - Margaret Atwood. The worldwide scandal of overfishing must be given a public platform before it is too late - I know of no better person to undertake this task than Charles Clover. - Brendan May, Chief Executive, Marine Stewardship. The global fisheries story desperately needs to be told in book form, and I cannot think of anyone better qualified to tell it. - George Monbiot, author The Captive State .