In this indispensable follow up to his acclaimed The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World, Charles Clover chronicles how determined individuals are proving that the crisis in our oceans can be reversed, with benefits for both local communities and entire ecosystems. Rewilding the Sea celebrates what happens when we step aside and let nature repair the damage: whether it is the overfishing of bluefin tuna across the Atlantic, the destruction of coral gardens by dredgers in Lyme Bay or the restoration of oysters on the East Coast of America.
The latest scientific research shows that trawling and dredging create more CO2 than the aviation industry and damage vast areas of our continental shelves, stopping them soaking up carbon. We need to fish in different ways, where we fish at all. We can store carbon and have more fish by stepping aside more often and trusting nature.
Essential and revelatory, Rewilding the Sea propels us to rethink our relationship with nature and reveals that saving our oceans is easier than we think.
Charles Clover is Co-Founder of Blue Marine Foundation, a major NGO with exceptional connections and resources. Charles made his name as an author and environmental journalist writing principally for The Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph for which he was Environment Editor for twenty-two years. His book The End of The Line (Ebury, 2005) and the award-winning major documentary film that it inspired (presented by Clover) highlighted overfishing as a global problem. He was then invited to lead Blue Marine.
– Shortlisted for the 2023 James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation
"A game-changer! People are hungry for a plan to reverse ocean death so we can keep breathing!"
– Margaret Atwood, Twitter
"I doubt any more important book will be published this year. Charles Clover tells (with spirit and style) an alarming and convincing story, yet it is one that offers hope and a way forward for our beleaguered oceans [...] and us."
– Stephen Fry
"[An] optimistic manifesto for change [...] There are so many stories here of nature's titanic powers – if only we give her a chance – that it's ultimately a genuinely optimistic and energising read"
– Sunday Times
"This book is desperately needed. Interest in terrestrial rewilding is rocketing and now it is time for the sea. The material Charles Clover will be covering is rich, urgent and fascinating. There will be so many people who will be desperate to get behind this book."
– Isabella Tree
"What if our seas became productive again with giant sturgeon, halibut and skate? What if we let the seas soak up carbon from the atmosphere like the peat bogs instead of battering them with trawls and dredges? It's closer than you think. In fact, as Charles Clover explains, rewilding the sea has already begun."
– George Monbiot
"This uplifting book proves rewilding can fill oceans with teeming life again [...] powerful [...] forceful [...]"
– Telegraph