V Form Lion Term: Fishing & Marine Science

The Fisherman's Companion has found its way into thousands of tackleboxes across North America and this new improved edition is even better. Read it before you leave home, and keep it with you while fishing to get the most from this handy resource.

An unexpected, energetic look at world history on sea and land from the bestselling author of Salt and The Basque History of the World Cod, Mark Kurlansky's third work of nonfiction and winner of the 1999 James Beard Award, is the biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history with this humble fish as its recurring main character. Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic sagas? Cod, frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and eaten like hardtack. What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply of cod. As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were legendary. In this lovely, thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world's folly? "Every once in a while a writer of particular skill takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight. Such is the case of Mark Kurlansky and the codfish." -David McCullough, author of The Wright Brothers and 1776

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cod, Salt, and The Big Oyster comes the colorful story of a way of life that for hundreds of years has defined much of America's coastlines but is slowly disappearing. Illustrated.

Gourmands and health-conscious consumers alike have fallen for fish; last year per capita consumption in the United States hit an all-time high. Packed with nutrients and naturally low in fat, fish is the last animal we can still eat in good conscience. Or can we? In this vivid, eye-opening book--first published in the UK to wide acclaim and now extensively revised for an American audience--environmental journalist Charles Clover argues that our passion for fish is unsustainable. Seventy-five percent of the world's fish stocks are now fully exploited or overfished; the most popular varieties risk extinction within the next few decades. Clover trawls the globe for answers, from Tokyo's sumptuous fish market to the heart of New England's fishing industry. He joins hardy sailors on high-tech boats, interviews top chefs whose menu selections can influence the fate of entire species, and examines the ineffective organizations charged with regulating the world's fisheries. Along the way he argues that governments as well as consumers can take steps to reverse this disturbing trend before it's too late. The price of a mouthwatering fillet of Chilean sea bass may seem outrageous, but The End of the Line shows its real cost to the ecosystem is far greater.