Product Description

McCloskey's vivid prose puts you right on deck, working like the devil as the decks roll, the spray flies, and the nets are hauled. His love of the boats, the fishermen, and the sea shines through this fascinating tribute to a way of life. (19981130)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #896458 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Kirkus Reviews
A splendid, subtle portrait of the fisherman's lifefrom Hokkaido to Norway, Chile to the Java Seaby McCloskey (Highliners, 1978, etc.). After a stint in the Coast Guard, McCloskey shipped out on his first fishing vessel 20 years ago, and he has evidently been keeping notes on every voyage since, detailing the days and nights of those who pursue one of the most dangerous jobs on Earthfishing. He has fished for king crab in the Bering Sea in winter, when the crabs are at their plumpest and the sea its nastiest; he has chased cod on the 1,000-year-old foggy and doomed Grand Banks fishery; he experienced the industrial-scale sardine fishery of Chile and the artisan fishing of Indonesia from small wooden boats (no radar here; fish are tracked at night by their phosphorescent wakes). He has spent a good amount of time with the Japanese fleet and shares with them a lust for the delicacies of the deep. And he has served on patrol boats enforcing compliance with the welter of maritime laws. Thus, as McCloskey explains the taking of shrimp and cod and squid, he is also able to speak knowledgeably about ship machinery, fishing ports, trawling and purse seining, the grand Law of the sea and the lesser laws governing salmon catches and whale harvesting, and the continuing havoc wreaked by the Exxon Valdez (ten years later, the herring have not returned, nor have the harlequin duck and pigeon guillemot). And best of all, McCloskey feels and conveys the atavism inherent in hunting the ocean, which he balances with deflating counterpoints. Says one old hand, ``It's a livin', b'y, but it ain't much of a life now, is it?'' Tales of fishermen at peril in high seas are hugely gripping. What makes McCloskey's book so memorable is that it invests in the everyday lives of fishermen the same compulsive readableness. (color photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"The book is an eloquent statement about the poor health of the world's fisheries, as well as the lives of the world's fishermen. Few recent books have told their story in such epic proportions. (The Telegram )

Ingram
Those who put to sea for a dangerous and chancy living could ask for no better chronicler than McCloskey, who has sailed with fishermen and women in all the seas of the world. In this thrilling account, his vivid prose puts readers right on deck as the nets are hauled in. His love of the boats, the fishermen, and the sea shines through this moving and fascinating tribute to a way of life. 32 illustrations. Color insert.

Customer Reviews

By Far best by william mccloskey
This was by far of the three books i have red by william mccolskey the favorite he has another book called fish decks cannot find on amazon have to let you know about that one.

unlike highliners and breakers this one is nonfiction and follows along as the author goes back to alaska and around alaska where he served in the coast guard 20 years before and now is crab fishing and goes fishing around georges bank of the coast of chile and new zeland ,indonesia,and japan.looking for fish and shellfish. it also extensively covers the wreck of the exxon valdezand the effect on the fishing industry and the enviroment.Fisherman were making more money selling back buckets of oil back to exxon.He goes to the tokyo tsukiji market which i have seen on a national geographic program. This place is huge they figure they have on any given day 330 different species for sale which come from all around the world for example They have prawns and shrimp from 64 nations the market and auction generate enough trash to fill 200 trash trucks a day.It cover alot of the political side of fishing and how the different regulations have come about to protect the fish.
You read this book it is amazing that they fish with nets miles long and never think about depleteing the resources.Also learned tha over fishing was not the only thing affecting the amount of fish being caught runoff from farms both animal and agricultural.And fish farms that apeear on the surface appear to be a good thing end up causing harm to native fish.

Telling it like it is
The best book I've read dealing with the social AND political AND cultural aspects of commercial fishing. Making no excuses for the industry or the people who condemn it. His stories are compelling and enrapturing as well as extremely informative. It'll give understanding of why the worlds oceans are in the state they are in and all the players who have caused it to be where it is. Enjoy!

A bit 'upity' for the subject matter.
The author knows his subject matter but gets too heavy with all the legal bs and too light on the human stories. Seems like the author couldn't decide if he wanted to write a text book or a down to earth type story.