This review does not do it justice. This book is fantastic.


excellent discussion of an important issue   October 3, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I highly recommend this book -- it can be very difficult to read at times, when you are learning about the intense destruction of marine life, but it is incredibly important to make the effort. I found the strength of the book to be its on the ground, nitty-gritty flavor, brought forth through interviews with fishers, conservationists, ranchers and others. In addition to the inescapable horror stories (when you're talking about salmon, in particular, they are inescapable), there are nuggets of hope to cling to. As good a portrayal of our inability to recognize the limits of the natural world on which we rely as I have read.


A Call to Action   June 10, 2000
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Magnificently written by a world-class scientist and gifted communicator -- a fortunate combination that might be as rare as some of the wondrous marine animals and habitats he describes. I am a landlubber businessman who, until I read this book, merely had a spectator's idle interest in the fate of the world's fisheries and marine environments. Dr. Safina eloquently convinces the reader how directly connected we all are to the world's oceans for the well-being of our purses, our physical bodies and our spirits.

Safina doesn't merely describe and bemoan the degradation of the seas and marine life. He objectively (well, as objectively as he can) examines the issues from the broad perspectives of those who rely upon these wild animals for subsistence, for profit and for enjoyment (that just about covers 6 billion or so people). In light of the abundant intellectual honesty Safina brings to the task, even the most skeptical reader will conclude that the oceans and their denizens are in a bad way, portending serious consequences for all of us, no matter what our agenda (and even for those of us who, like myself once, don't think we even have a marine agenda).

Safina says we have options, that the destruction so far is not completely irreversible and that further destruction is not inevitable. I came away from this book thinking not only that something has to be done, but asking myself how I can help do it.


The Last Buffalo...   April 22, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a wonderful, informative, heartbreaking book. I can't recommend it enough. Dr. Carl Safina sounds like an incredible person. I recommend that everyone join the Living Oceans Program of the National Audubon Society before it really is too late (if it isn't already). I wish I knew what I could do to help save fish.


Important and exceptional   January 17, 2000
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is a book whose great relevance and informative value is matched by its well-crafted prose. Safina is a superb writer; the book reads like a great story, its wealth of factual information integrated with the descriptions of people, places and things encountered by the author in his research. Unfortunately, it is a sad chronicle of human devastation of marine life, but one which must be told. If knowledge is a necessary precondition to action, books like this have an importance in modern life beyond the literary. It should be read by everyone who cares about life and the environment. Gives good insight into the motivations and workings of people and organizations (both governmental and industrial) that have direct impacts on the issues examined.