Posted on 3 December 2007
Drawing on firsthand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishers, and travellers, the book recreates the oceans of the past: waters teeming with whales, sea lions, sea otters, turtles, and giant fish. The abundance of marine life described by fifteenth century seafarers is almost unimaginable today, but Roberts both brings it alive and artfully traces its depletion. Collapsing fisheries, he shows, are simply the latest chapter in a long history of unfettered commercialisation of the seas.
The story does not end with an empty ocean. Instead, Roberts describes how we might restore the splendour and prosperity of the seas through smarter management of our resources and some simple restraint. From the coasts of Florida to New Zealand, marine reserves have fostered spectacular recovery of plants and animals to levels not seen in a century. They prove that history need not repeat itself: we can leave the oceans richer than we found them.
The Unnatural History of the Sea: The Past and Future of Humanity and Fishing was published by Gaia Books in August 2007. The Washington Post picked the book as one of their ten best books of 2007.
Callum Roberts is a Professor in the Environment Department
Email: cr10@york.ac.uk
Interview
Listen to Professor Callum Roberts talk about his book
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Buy The Unnatural History of the Sea: The past and future of humanity and fishing
(Amazon.co.uk)