Salmon, Mark Kurlansky
Salmon, Mark Kurlansky
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Salmon
A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate

Author: Mark Kurlansky

Series: Patagonia

Narrator: Mark Kurlansky

Unabridged: 10 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/03/2020


Synopsis

In what he says is the most important piece of environmental writing in his long and award-winning career, Mark Kurlansky, best-selling author of Salt and Cod, The Big Oyster, 1968, and Milk, among many others, employs his signature multi-century storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon.

During his research Kurlansky traveled widely and observed salmon and those who both pursue and protect them in the Pacific and the Atlantic, in Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Japan, and even the robust but not as frequently visited Kamchatka Peninsula. This world tour reveals an eras-long history of man’s misdirected attempts to manipulate salmon and its environments for his own benefit and gain, whether for entertainment or to harvest food.

In addition, Kurlansky’s research shows that all over the world these fish, uniquely connected to both marine and terrestrial ecology as well as fresh and salt water, are a natural barometer for the health of the planet. He documents that for centuries man’s greatest assaults on nature, from overfishing to dams, from hatcheries to fish farms, from industrial pollution to the ravages of climate change, are evidenced in the sensitive life cycle of salmon.

Kurlansky’s insightful conclusion is that the only way to save salmon is to save the planet and, at the same time, the only way to save the planet is to save the mighty, heroic salmon.

About The Author

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Havana, Cod, Salt, Paper, The Basque History of the World, 1968, and The Big Oyster, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appetit's Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The International Herald Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, Partisan Review, Harper’s, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Audubon Magazine, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, and Parade. He lives in New York City. www.markkurlansky.com


Reviews

Salmon, A Fish, the Earth and a History of Their Common Fate by Mark Kurlansky is a fascinating dive into the wonderful, interesting and often sad tale of this beautiful fish.   We start with ‘The tale of two fisheries', which takes is behind the scenes into two commercial fishing operators, one empl......more

Goodreads review by Clare on January 23, 2020

This excellently written book looks at the life cycle, evolution and legends of the salmon in the early chapters, and at the fisherfolks who depend upon it. Moving on to Europe and how salmon has been almost fished out of existence except in Britain where laws came in to protect it but rivers were o......more

Goodreads review by Christopher on February 17, 2021

3.5 - Not my favorite of Kurlansky's - I enjoyed "Cod" quite a bit more. But it is certainly the most depressing of Kurlansky's that I've read thus far. Overall, the book served as yet another (in a long list) of reminders that the more modern humans are involved in something in the natural world, t......more

Goodreads review by Lucas on January 31, 2025

Another Mark Kurlansky banger. This time with an apocalyptic twist......more

Goodreads review by Phil on February 03, 2021

Not Kurlansky’s best work but an interesting read. The history aspects are great and it’s always enjoyable to read about various locations around the world. However, the assertion that the survival of any one species is somehow “inextricably tied to the survival of the planet” is ludicrous. I believ......more