BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY
THE UNNATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEA
The past and future of humanity and fishing
Callum Roberts – 1-85675-294-1; £7.99
On a similar theme to Sea Change, featured in Bookshelf for Autumn 2007 - although with slightly more optimism for the future – this is an exploration of the long and colourful history of the commercialization of the seas and recently published in paperback.
Professor Roberts suggests that taking bounty from the ocean is not a recent phenomenon: whilst today’s fishing industry is ruthlessly efficient, intense exploitation began not in the modern era, or even with the dawn of industrialization, but with the first mercantile fishing in the eleventh century. Drawing on first-hand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishermen and travellers, the book recreates the oceans of the past: waters teeming with whales, sea lions, sea otters, turtles, and giant fish, taking readers around the world and through the centuries to witness the transformation of the seas.
The abundance of marine life as depicted by 15th century seafarers is almost unimaginable today – unless you happen to frequent such remote places as Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific - but Roberts both brings the oceans of the past alive and traces their depletion. Collapsing fish stocks (and by extension, fishing fleets) are simply the latest chapter in a long history of indiscriminate abuse of the seas. Satellite technology is now brought to bear: attaching positioning beacons to logs which then attract young tuna allows the fleets to scoop up the fish at will – but doing so before they have had a chance to reach adulthood and reproduce inevitably means that future catches are put at risk.
Well-written and accessible to non-scientists, the book is divided into three sections: “Explorers and Exploiters in the Age of Plenty”, charts the historical aspects of the sea being plundered for food and profit; "The Modern Era of Fishing" which gives examples of over-harvesting, the decline of coral reefs and the headlong rush to capitalise on fish stocks while there is still something left to fish; and “The Once and Future Ocean” presenting a synopsis of current fisheries policies, and a proposal for a new ways forward by breaking out of the ‘cycle of failure’ to save global fisheries.
And it all goes to show that destruction of world resources is nothing new: the pacy narrative that starts the book – The End of Innocence – relates the story of the Stellar sea-cow and its discoverer. Found for the first time in 1741, by 1768 the last sea cow was killed on Bering Island, its only known habitat, with none being seen since.
Available throughout February at only £6 inclusive of P&P