View Full Version : Suggested reading list?
Sea Gristle
03-28-2005, 02:44 PM
Anybody have some suggestions on books they have enjoyed on fishing/ conservation /the Bay, etc? I need some more reading material!
Here are some to get started:
“The Secret life of lobsters” -Trevor Corson ( see previous post)
“Men’s Lives” Peter Matthiessen
Been a long time since I read it but it’s a history and portrayal of a disappearing way of life of the Long Island haul-siene fishermen. Some great stuff on the battle between the recreationals and the commercials. How the bluefish disappeared for a forty-year stretch and tidbits about like how striped bass used to be a trash fish!
“Chesapeake” -James A. Michener
An oldie but worth mentioning if there’s anybody who hasn’t read it. I found the decriptions of the changing bay ecology, crab mating,etc much more interesting than the "story" though. Made me wish I lived 100 years ago.
Sea Gristle
04-14-2005, 08:49 AM
Watkins - just finished it-excellent. Thanks for the tip. Makes me sad though, the thirty years since it was written have not been kind to the crabbers or the Bay.
billx8
04-16-2005, 08:58 PM
It's a little old now but the best thing going is "Song for the Blue Ocean" by Carl Safina. My all time favorite is "Alaska Blues" by Joe Upton but it is long out of print. Current and offbeat but OK in my book is "Fishing the 41st" author forgotten (its about freshwater trout fishing so off topic). There's also "Following the Run" or something to that effect by Benedetto that is about striped bass.
Sea Gristle
01-09-2006, 02:27 PM
"Striper Wars: an American Fish Story: by Dick Russell
I didn't start fishing in the Bay until the end of the moratorium, so this was a great book for me to learn what lead up to that decision, various coastal states positions the ASFMC, etc. Counterbalances the recovery with a very dire outlook for striped bass in the future.
Moorefun
01-09-2006, 10:51 PM
A couple very good fishing books that touch on conservation
1) Linda Greenlaw - The Hungry Ocean
2) Douglas Whynott - Giant Bluefin
A book somewhat similar to Striper Wars with more history
John McPhee - The Founding Fish
Sea Gristle
01-19-2006, 10:21 AM
"The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and The Geography of Desire" -- by Richard Adams Carey
History and biology, Poaching, international smuggling - pretty facinating stuff. You'd think it was cocaine not fish eggs.
Sea Gristle
01-23-2006, 04:05 PM
"The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay" -- by John R. Wennersten
Whew. Man, what a sad and tragic tale. Police boats sinking oyster dredges (now called "Hand Scrapes") with cannons and machine guns? That s#*t's CRAZY! Really eye-opening about the rape of the resource and the mistrusting, non-cooperative ( or at least highly disputatious) nature VA & MD legislatures ( as far as the Bay goes).
EShoreFF
01-23-2006, 05:56 PM
Try these
The Corps and the Shore---------Plixey/Dixon
The Founding Fish. Coming into Country=====John McPhee
The Fishermans' Ocean----------Ross
Sea Gristle
01-24-2006, 08:34 AM
Cool. I'll check 'em out. I'm just starting "Wetland Riders" by Robert Fritchey, about the recreational conservation movement from a commercial perspective.
I must confess I've never read "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson (or have forgotten I've read it) so that's on my list as well.
chesapeakeblend
02-02-2006, 09:27 PM
The best conservation book ever is A Sand County Almanac imho
mike
Norm Bartlett
02-06-2006, 08:17 PM
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Bush Versus the Environment by Robert Devine
Purdue1
02-06-2006, 08:31 PM
Yes Mike I agree.....by Aldo Leopold I believe..
pbramble
02-10-2006, 09:43 AM
"The Founding Fish" by John McPhee, about Shad and their American history
"Blues" by John Hersey. Great book about bluefish, very well written
Reel ExCuse
02-10-2006, 02:58 PM
I've gotta echo the suggestion of "Blues." IMO, one of the best sit in the chair beside the fireplace books I've read. He does a great job of combining fishing, science, storytelling and recipes into a really good read.
pbramble
02-10-2006, 03:14 PM
yup. might be the best non-humorous fishing book I've ever read, besides the Old Man and the Sea.
TroutThink
02-10-2006, 08:35 PM
Griz
Ditto for Sand County Almanac for general conservation. Also, Wilderness and the American Mind by Roderick Nash.
My ultimate favorite book about the ocean:
The Ocean Almanac. It'll blow your mind. Sub title is "Being a Copius Compendium of Sea Creatures, Nautical Lore, Shipwrecks........" I can't remember the rest. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. It's a great book for the sh*tter too. Amazing stories of floods, shipwrecks, weird sea creatures, pirates, name it - it's in there
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0385140770.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif
Beautiful Swimmers by William Warner
Cod by Mark Kurlansky
Sea Gristle
03-05-2007, 12:15 PM
The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat
by Charles Clover
A european look at international fisheries, but goes into great detail on teh Northeast Cod fisheries collapse, and the unsustainable world-wide harvesting of Bluefin. Eye-opening to say the least.
LY2000
03-06-2007, 02:12 PM
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,
Philbrick, Nathaniel
The best survival book I have ever read. Also a great history on whaling and is the real life events that inspired Moby Dick. Reads as good as Jaws.
Norm Bartlett
03-07-2007, 06:06 PM
THE SEA AROUND US by Rachel Carson
THE CLEAN WATER ACT U.S. Congress