Sea Change: Unlikely Allies and a Success Story of Oceanic Proportions

Journalist and public policy consultant Workman (Heart of Dryness) teams up with Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, to paint an upbeat portrait of a revitalized global fishing industry. The authors detail how, as early as the late 1960s and more so in the 1990s and 2000s, commercial fishermen, environmentalists, and scientists joined forces to popularize the concept of “catch shares,” a fishery management system in which a specific percentage of an allowable catch is allotted to individuals, cooperatives, or communities. Rather than coercive top-down governmental regulation, catch shares depend on cooperation and responsibility at the community level. The authors show the concept’s roots in Japanese fishing societies of the 1700s and vividly describe the practice in action. The result, they write, has been a resurgence of fish populations, increased safety and security for fishermen, and a reduction in maritime fossil fuel usage. Much of the story is told through the experiences of Buddy Guindon, a longtime Texas fisherman who evolved from a “grim reaper of the aquatic world” into a passionate advocate for sustainable fishing. Readers looking for a climate change narrative shot through with optimism will find this does the trick. (Sept.)