Ocean Book of the Month

Every month, The Ocean Project highlights a book focused on our blue planet or environmental sustainability. Books for all age groups will be covered, non-fiction and fiction, prose and poetry. If you have a suggestion, please let us know.

The Great Gulf: Fishermen, Scientists, and the Struggle to Revive the World's Greatest Fishery

by David Dobbs

In the late 1980s, the fishery that had sustained New England coastal communities for almost 500 years began to collapse due to overfishing and poor management. In the face of this crisis, the fishermen and scientists who know the ocean best have become locked in an intense, bitter conflict over how to count the fish that remain. The gulf of distrust between them, which hauntingly echoes deeper discords in our culture, threatens to destroy any chance at recovering our nation's first bounty.

For readers who've come to know the New England fishery through books such as Cod and The Perfect Storm, The Great Gulf provides the story's next chapter: that of fishermen and scientists who, working the same body of water but understanding it in completely different ways, strive to find a common vision that will revive this magnificent, irreplaceable ecosystem. Full of salty sea voyages, cutting-edge science, unexpected humor, and the irrepressible spirit of those who work on the water, The Great Gulf is a must-read for anyone interested in science, nature, or the ocean.

Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, writes:

"This sea that David Dobbs writes about I have known, loved and fished in all my life, and like so many others, I have watched its destruction with despair. This intelligent book hits directly on the heart of the problem and thoughtfully demonstrates what stands in the way of a real solution. I urge anyone interested in reversing the tragedy facing our oceans, and, for that matter, anyone interested in preserving natural resources, to read this book."

This book should motivate and inspire us to personal action on behalf of fish and fisherman alike.

• Read David Dobb's Great Gulf press release by Island Press.

• Find out how you can help do your part at the Seas the Day action pages.

• If you are interested in reading this book but also want to be a conscious consumer, please visit your local library and check it out.

• If you're interested in purchasing this book, and then perhaps passing it along to a friend to spread the word, we encourage you to buy locally and from an independent bookseller. Please click on one of the two logos below to purchase a good read and help The Ocean Project.

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• If you have any suggestions for a future "Ocean Book of the Month", please let us know. Send us your favorite recent or not-so-recent read so we can share it with all!