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. This book 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. '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 of The Captive Slave
Charles Clover has been Environment Editor of the Daily Telegraph for 15 years. He has been three-times winner of the National journalist category of British Environment and Media Awards. He lives with his family in Essex.
'Hugely important book', BBC Wildlife .'"entertaining, outrageous and a must-read for anyone who cares about the sea and its denizens"', Times Higher Educational Supplement .'A blazingly powerful indictment', The Sunday Telegraph .'Anyone with the slightest interest in where our fish comes from, and the devastating effects of our voracious appetite for it, should read this', Tom Parker-Bowles, Mail on Sunday .'It is a rare book that changes one's life, even in a small way...Charles Clover has written a shocking book about the effects of industrial fishing', Andrew Marr, Start the Week, Radio 4 .'Devastating - a succinct and powerful crash course on the pressing environmental issues surrounding fish that should send consumer awareness soaring', Daily Mail .'This is an issue which needs populist exposure. Clover has done it admirably - a brilliant exposition', Owen Paterson MP, The Spectator