Farmbrarian

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Award-winning journalist and non-fiction writer Taras Grescoe takes readers on a whirlwind tour of our oceans within his 2008 book Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood. Grescoe seamlessly integrates cultural culinary traditions, investigative reporting and travel writing within the book.

Grescoe begins in New York City where he explores how monkfish gained popularity and how catching the elusive fish harms ocean floors. From there, he moves around the globe: cod in England, sardines in the Mediterranean, shrimp in India, and so on. As Grescoe visits each country, he samples local fare, mingles with fishermen and fishmongers, and discusses the threats facing regional species and waters. Grescoe explains in detail concerns such as overfishing, invasive species and pollution.

Bottomfeeder is meticulously researched and eloquently written. For environmentally conscious consumers who want to learn how to responsibly eat seafood, this is a must-read. Even those well versed in the threats facing our oceans will learn something by reading this book.

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“We need to fence the range, even in the wildest and remotest parts of the ocean. And we should not weep for the death of the cowboy” (327).

Author Charles Clover refers to fishermen as cowboys in this analogy lifted from his book The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat (2008). Clover explains that overfishing is an urgent concern worldwide, and action can no longer be delayed no matter who will be affected. Ultimately, if appropriate steps aren’t taken, the affects of overfishing will extend much further than just fishermen.

The book touches on nearly every aspect of fishing: fishing practices and technology, resistance to limiting catch, history, canned tuna, methods of action and more. The End of the Line will certainly change the habits of anyone who reads it. Those changes of habit, coupled with changes in law all around the world, are almost certainly necessary to avoid the collapse of many fishing stocks, similar to stocks that have already collapsed (ex: Atlantic Cod) and devastated more than just local ‘cowboys.’