The Most Important Fish in the Sea: Menhaden and America - Hardcover

Franklin, H. Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1597261246 ISBN 13: 9781597261241

Publisher: Island Press, 2007

Synopsis

This is the story of a once abundant fish decimated by corporate interests.In this brilliant portrait of the oceans' unlikely hero, H. Bruce Franklin shows how menhaden have shaped America's natural - and national - history, and why a single company now threatens their crucial ecological mission. The same pudgy little fish that once saved the Pilgrims from starvation and helped power the industrial revolution are today being ground up by the billions and turned into everything from linoleum to lipstick. The massive harvest isn't just devastating one fish, but the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In Franklin's vibrant prose, the menhaden's decline becomes an adventure story, an exciting exploration of American history, and an inspiring call to action.

About this title

Review:

"Franklin's book on the runty menhaden is a killer whale achievement." - BALTIMORE SUN "Franklin's prose is lucid and infused with an urgency that depends little on hyperbole and largely on careful documentation. His compelling narrative informs and enlightens." - WASHINGTON POST "An optimistic book.... Perhaps this story will have a positive ending; H. Bruce Franklin's fascinating account makes us look forward to that." - DANIEL PAULY IN SCIENCE "A knock-out fish story." - PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER"

About the Author:

H. Bruce Franklin is the John Cotton Dana Professor of English and American Studies at Rutgers University - Newark. He has authored or edited eighteen books, including War Stars: The Superweapon and the American Imagination and Vietnam and Other American Fantasies. His articles and reviews have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, Science, The Nation, Discover, and many other publications.

About this edition

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1597261246
• ISBN 13: 9781597261241
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288