End of the Line How Overfishing Is Changing the World & What We Eat

Picking up where Cod left off, an invaluable (Financial Times) look at the global crisis of overfishing.

Gourmands and health-conscious consumers alike have fallen for fish; last year per capita consumption in the United States hit an all-time high. Packed with nutrients and naturally low in fat, fish is the last animal we can still eat in good conscience.

Or can we?

In this vivid, eye-opening book— first published in the UK to wide acclaim and now extensively revised for an American audience— environmental journalist Charles Clover argues that our passion for fish is unsustainable. Seventy-five percent of the world's fish stocks are now fully exploited or overfished; the most popular varieties risk extinction within the next few decades.

Clover trawls the globe for answers, from Tokyo's sumptuous fish market to the heart of New England's fishing industry. He joins hardy sailors on high-tech boats, interviews top chefs whose menu selections can influence the fate of entire species, and examines the ineffective organizations charged with regulating the world's fisheries. Along the way he argues that governments as well as consumers can take steps to reverse this disturbing trend before it's too late. The price of a mouth-watering fillet of Chilean sea bass may seem outrageous, but The End of the Line shows its real cost to the ecosystem is far greater.

Ninety percent of the large fish in the world's oceans have disappeared in the past half century, causing the collapse of fisheries along with numerous fish species. In this hard-hitting, provocative exposé, Charles Clover reveals the dark underbelly and hidden costs of putting food on the table at home and in restaurants. From the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo to a seafood restaurant on the North Sea and a trawler off the coast of Spain, Clover pursues the sobering truth about the plight of fish. Along with the ecological impact wrought by industrial fishing, he reports on the implications for our diet, particularly our need for omega-3 fatty acids. This intelligent, readable, and balanced account serves as a timely warning to the general public as well as to scientists, regulators, legislators--and all fishing enthusiasts.

"This book is not just for those interested in fisheries but for those worried about our survival."—Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod and The Big Oyster

"Anyone involved in fishing, seaside communities, or seafood will find themselves amazed, dismayed, enraged, and motivated."—Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean

Charles Clover is a journalist and the environment editor of the Daily Telegraph in London. The End of the Line has received the Guild of Food Writers' Derek Cooper Award for Investigative Journalism, the Zoological Society for London's Biosis award for communicating zoology, and a special commendation from the André Simon Memorial Fund Book Awards.