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

This book started out irritating me, and I think it was the brassy holier-than-thou attitude ("Tsukiji may be one of the few fish markets in the world that does not smell of fish... But Tsukiji stinks all the same, for its daily trade is pushing bluefin tuna daily closer to extinction" [p.34]). In the second chapter the author complains loudly about the trade in bluefin tuna (the western atlantic stock is listed as critically endangered, and the eastern atlantic stock is listed as endangered by IUCN) and then proceeds to have some bluefin tuna sashimi for breakfast. However, I started warming to him (despite his poor breakfast choices and awful Adrian Monk publicity photo) and did learn some interesting stuff about the world's fishing show more industries. Here's where I laughed out loud and genuinely started liking the book (he's talking about an unpublished paper about bycatch in the Spanish tuna fleet): "The observers also noted the scientific names, in Latin, of the species caught as bycatch. I looked up the common names with growing disbelief. It amounted to almost the entire cast list of Finding Nemo [he lists 5 species of sea turtles, 3 whale species including humpback, a great white shark, other sharks and rays, etc] On the bright side, they didn't catch any dolphins." [p. 211]. Ha!

Villains that I knew nothing about: the system (or lack thereof) of prosecution for infractions in the EU and in international waters. The entire government of Spain, apparently. Government initiatives in Canada and Scotland that purport to retrain fisherman and decrease fishing capacity but instead create salmon farms and people who are chronically underemployed.

Unlikely heroes: Unilever (owner of Birdseye and Gorton's), one of the original founders (with WWF) of the Marine Stewardship Council. Who knew? I think i'll buy more Birds Eye veggies next time I'm at the supermarket. show less