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Aug 03, 2011

Carol rated it:

Fascinating book that talks about the history of man's involvement with 4 species of fish.

In the last chapter, Greenberg stresses that we need to think more about ecosystems management for the health of all fish, rather than managing individual species.

I appreciated the info about various environmental organizations that recommend ocean-friendly species to eat, like the Monterey Bay Aquarium http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr...

I used to fish, I kn More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2012

Irwin rated it:

Many of us, no doubt, have long suspected that the end is near as far as the most desirable wild fisheries are concerned. Many of the world's most sought-after fish -- including cod, tuna, sea bass and salmon -- have all disappeared from the wild to some extent, and we will soon be able to eat only frankenstein fish raised on farms that are saturated with antibiotics, fish excrement, industrial chemicals and other pollutants. This fascinating book gives us a glimpse backward to a time when the s More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Dayna rated it:

Where do I start? This book single-handedly knocked the ignorance right out of me, not the part that highlighted human greed, but the part that never quite understood what "farmed" fish meant, the extent to which we have manipulated/destroyed their breeding environment and overturned their own biological makeup sometimes for the sake of profit, other times for the very real necessity of eradicating hunger, nor that it had been hypocritical of me to relinquish red "meat" whil More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Happyreader rated it:

Who would have guessed after going into such depth about the state of the fish we eat that the author would conclude by revealing that he’s unsettled by people continually asking him which fish they should eat. I understand that he considers global fishing and environmental policy changes to be primary and necessary and that if one consumer doesn’t eat tuna, another will so we’re shouldn’t delude ourselves that we’re saving fish solely by our consumer choices. Plus, he promotes shifting our mi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Isaac rated it:

Four Fish provided a very good overview of the state of wild fisheries and fish farms through the eyes of someone who genuinely cares about fish and fishing. After reading Bottomfeeder, I was wary that it may cover a lot of similar terrain, but this actually provided an interesting and thought-provoking perspective about how people view fish. There were some really intriguing insights here. For example, salmon was perceived to be a luxury item, brought down to the masses. Cod was perceived to be More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Jordan rated it:

Do you ever wonder where that fish on your plate comes from, or how many of its brothers and sisters are still around? Do you wonder why there are only a couple of fish that are available to order at restaurants or buy at the grocery store? Paul Greenberg fished as a child does first in local ponds and streams near his home. As he grew older he bought a boat and began fishing in lakes and then in bays and coastal areas. As an adult he chartered boats and the ocean became his pond. Upo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 09, 2011

Karen rated it:

It's a story of unintended consequences. Farmed Fish is a big idea response to pressures on the wild fish stock in the commercial fisheries. It holds promise, but has primarily worsened the circumstances of the wild stock while degrading the fish we eat. Sadly, most fish farming is based on false logic, erroneous assumptions, and a green ideology that uses simplistic, and often untrue, stories to stir emotional reactions and garner political power. Two axioms should be held sacrosanct in this an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 15, 2011

Scott is currently reading it

Basically says that the same thing that's happening with industrial agriculture is being replicated with fish, including all of the problems. Speaks about overfishing's effects on a native tribe in the Yukon; something like 500,000 wild salmon are left in the atlantic; scientists' effort to create a viable aquaculture system with the wrong fish (european sea bass, or branzino); tons of salmon are farmed in Chile because of its viable climate; many farmed salmon/ sea bass are escaping into waterw More...

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Apr 27, 2011

Andrew rated it:

A sport fisherman examines the fate of the world’s last wild food.

Four Fish: The Future of the last Wild Food by Paul Greenburg examines the condition of the Earth’s fisheries by focusing on four fish: salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna. Any book that addresses natural resources and humanity’s treatment of them has high potential to be very depressing. Greenburg however, outlines several options that combine strategies for wild-catch commercial fishing, aquaculture, and preservation th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 15, 2011

Arthur rated it:

Paul Greenberg's book is at its most interesting when you hear him speaking as a lover of fish and of fishing. He has that very admirable mix of writing prowess, scientific background, and a passion for his topic. True, the book drags at various points, and I found myself zoning out slightly during the middle of certain chapters (though to be fair, I was crossing several time zones at the time). However, it's worth the journey, as you'll learn a lot about how we get our food from the sea and wha More...

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Dec 23, 2010

Kurt rated it:

In the history of human civilization four fish species have had dramatic and lasting impacts -- Salmon, Bass, Cod, and Tuna. Today, as wild stocks of these four fish become increasingly depleted even as demand continues to rise, we are becoming more and more reliant on commercially farmed fish to make up the deficit.

Will this strategy work? Can wild stocks ever be restored to historic sustainable levels? Will commercial farming of food fish be the salvation of natural wild fish or w More...

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Sep 19, 2010

William rated it:

This is essentially a policy book about how to sustainably manage wild fish and meet rising demand will require a mix of government controls on fishing and on carefully regulated aquaculture.

Some fish make less sense than others for aquaculture, and Greenberg introduces a number of fish that seem well-suited for aquaculture, due to their low dependency on fish feed. Some fish, like salmon, require a diet of fish meal that makes raising them a net loss on sea life. Others are vegetar More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2010

Nishant rated it:

Greenberg agrues, rather convincingly, that 4 fish that we have (nearly) fished to extinction -- Salmon, Cod, Bass, and Tuna -- should essentially be taken off our menus. Also, they should be re-classified as "wild fish", and not farmed. Alternatives--that in some cases already exist--should instead be farmed, and used for human consumption. Furthermore, these four "wild" fish should not longer be fished by giant industrial trawlers, but by artisinal fishermen, who understand More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2010

Schuyler rated it:

Definitely one of the best books that I have read in my adult life! I highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in the subject.

The author does a phenomenal job of sharing information through his various adventures and stories. Not only do you feel like you are learning about fish but you also feel as if you're building a relationship with the author. You learn about fish through his life.

The best part of the book to me is that the author does not support one side More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 09, 2010

Gary rated it:

As a fisherman I found this book somewhat unsettling; and I suppose that’s what the author intended. He not only points at the smoke to yell, “Fire,” but he also proposes some solutions to the depletion of the last stocks of wild food available to mankind.

Greenberg’s descriptive prose engages the reader while at the same time instructing. We learn about the history of domesticating fish, the selection process practiced by fish farm entrepreneurs, the status of a variety of fish spec More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 10, 2011

Chad rated it:

I would really like to give this book 3 1/2 stars. The 5 star rating system does not cut it. But I digress...

The book opens and sets its premise with this quote:

"Must we eliminate all wildness from the sea and replace it with some kind of human controlled system, or can wildeness be understood and managed well enough to keep humanity and the marine world in balance."

The author surveys four different fish (really more than that but those are the sec More...

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Jan 15, 2011

Jimmy rated it:

Paul Greenberg writes about four fish: salmon, tuna, bass, and cod. He also includes stories about other fish and marine life. The subtitle says it all: "The Future of the Last Wild Food." And the future is not good. So what can I do about it? I mean, I only want to live the rest of my life trying to do the right thing. Why is that so hard? In this case, it really is tricky. Small steps are not making enough of a difference right now.

For one thing, I will never eat bluefin tu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 24, 2011

Joan rated it:

Another book in the 'Omnivore's Dilemma' genre. If you eat fish or think about the fishing industry or habitat management or oceans management, put this book close to the top of your list.

For me, eating used to be so straightforward. But, visits to aquariums, especially the one in Monterrey, CA provide a better understanding of the environmental cost of eating fish. Visits to Louisburg, NS, provide a better understanding of the importance of the Grand Banks fishing area to Europe. More...

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Aug 21, 2010

Alan rated it:

"Four Fish" has an interesting premis, that fish are the last wild food that most of us will eat. Greenberg focuses on outlining the current status of four well-known food fish: salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna.

As it turns out the majority of the salmon and bass you eat is actually produced via aquaculture. Cod, real cod, has become relatively rare, and fish sold as "cod" are actually related species, some of which are starting to be farmed (aquaculture). The More...

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Dec 24, 2010

Peterb rated it:

Paul Greenberg charts the exploitation and decline of four fish - wild salmon, European sea bass, cod, and bluefin tuna - in this thoroughly depressing work. Much of the book is spent channelling representatives from various commercial fishing operations, or alternatively from environmental groups. Some attention is paid to the question "so, if we shouldn't eat these fish, what should we eat?". (Spoiler: Greenberg says barramundi, tilapia, and "kona kampachi", a trade name More...

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Aug 11, 2011

Susan rated it:

A very interesting read. The history of four fish. Past life. Farming. Future. Salmon. Sea Bass. Cod. Tuna. Very informative. I definitely recommend. I'm one of those folks who try to eat "responsibly." He takes on the issue of how much this matters. Maybe not all that much. But I'll still keep this direction. I recently found a cookbook that maps to thinking about what is a reasonable approach to seafood. Living as I do in the Pugent Sound, lots of amazing seafood. This is a More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Ichthyophiles beware, this book is a bit of a downer. Sure, you've heard of overfishing, but you can't possibly be part of the problem, right? Well, fish is a food just as fraught with environmental-moral quandaries as anything to be found on land. Greenberg gives an overview of the modern problems of fish through four representative (and delicious!!) species, and the biology of the fish and their oft-attempted domestication is pretty fascinating stuff. As for the question of changing the world, More...

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Oct 11, 2010

Bookmarks Magazine rated it:

Many of the critics called upon to review Paul Greenberg's Four Fish are themselves environmental writers or experts of some kind. It is a measure of the book's quality that even those who significantly disagreed with Greenberg endorsed Four Fish as one of the best primers for readers who want to learn how the seafood they eat relates to the future of the ocean. Their support may result from Greenberg's pragmatic solutions for improving aquaculture and avoidance of ideological confrontation. But More...

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Jun 11, 2011

Daniel rated it:

An exploration of four common fish driven by a personal narrative of fishing for them. Along the way current trends in aquaculture, genetic research, alternative fish types, and legislation are explained. Human greed and fisherman psychology seem to a driving force behind how we got to where we are today with fishing and it seems that without drastic measures nothing will change. The author doesn't advocate ceasing fishing as some other authors have. Instead the author recommends starting over t More...

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Oct 14, 2010

Mike rated it:

Paul Greenberg does a terrific job of summing up a complicated subject in this book. With farmed animals, genetically modified animals, environmental and habitat destruction for animals much on everyone's mind, this book offers a balanced and well-reasoned look at the four main fish mankind has fished for food (although Greenberg does sneak a few more in here and there).

That it's written in such an easily engaging manner without dumbing the subject matter down is a plus. And he does no More...

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Dec 09, 2011

David rated it:

I haven't read Mark Kurlansky's Cod, but this book is clearly capitalizing on the popularity of that book. Paul Greenberg even interviews Kurlansky and has the rather more famous writer sample a variety of wild, farmed, and organic cod to see if he can taste the difference. I guess I can't blame Greenberg for playing "gotcha" with a more famous author who made his reputation on a book about one fish species, but it seemed like he was trying a little too hard.

This book is an More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2011

Dan rated it:

Four Fish is a solid, if flawed, ecological read. The book is at its best when Greenberg sticks to the fascinating histories behind his title subjects -- the plight of the wild salmon that can no longer return to their rivers to spawn, the endocrinology discoveries that went into spurring farmed sea bass to breed, the challenges inherent in maintaining cod as the world's go-to industrial fish, and the wide-ranging blue-fin tunas that may already be too far gone.

Greenberg's best argumen More...

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Apr 23, 2011

Kate rated it:

I really just enjoyed this book. I didn't know much about fish before reading this book, but I ate it a lot. I'm really glad I did read this book because it provided a great background on many of the fish I like to eat. For instance, who knew tilapia was vegetarian? I've been eating tilapia forever, and had not even the vaguest notion where it came from. It was also really interesting to learn about the varieties of places that fish exist, and I could just go on about things I liked about this b More...

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Jan 30, 2011

Sarazen rated it:

Not the polemic one might expect of a book written to detail the state of the world's most popular food fishes. Nor is it a dry, overly technical discussion. This book rather, is a work that sums up the science and the current status of these creatures we so love to eat from the point of view of someone who has loved fishing for his entire life. While parts of the message are dire, in each case he shines a light toward possible choices that would not only allow us to continue eating the fruits More...

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Sep 24, 2011

Sam rated it:

Interesting, quick read that covers a broad range of fishing practices and issues over time, with particular focus on solutions. His solutions do not depend on unrealistic, wholesale changes in the consumer market, though they do require some changes. Focus is on the fact that sustainable, large-scale fish production may be the only solution to the worlds protein production problems. However, current fishing, fish-farming and fish consumption practices are far from sustainable. The moral of the More...

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