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Bottomfeeder [Hardcover]

Taras Grescoe (Author)

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From Publishers Weekly

In this whirlwind, worldwide tour of fisheries, Grescoe (The Devil's Picnic) whiplashes readers from ecological devastation to edible ecstasy and back again. In disturbing detail, he depicts the turbid and murky Chesapeake Bay, where, with overharvested oysters too few to do their filtering job, fish are infested with the cell from hell, a micro-organism that eats their flesh and exposes their guts. He describes how Indian shrimp farms treated with pesticides, antibiotics and diesel oil are destroying protective mangroves, ecosystems and villages, and portrays the fate of sharks—a collapsing fishery—finned for the Chinese delicacy shark-fin soup: living sharks have their pectoral and dorsal fins cut from their bodies with heated metal blades.... The sharks are kicked back into the ocean, alive and bleeding; it can take them days to die. But these horrific scenes are interspersed with delectable meals of succulent Portuguese sardines with fat-jeweled juices or a luscious breakfast of bluefin tuna sashimi, cool and moist... halfway between a demi-sel Breton butter and an unctuous steak tartare; the latter is a dish that, due to the fish's endangered status, Grescoe decides he won't enjoy again. The book ends on a cautiously optimistic note: scientists know what steps are needed to save the fisheries and the ocean; we just need the political will to follow through. Grescoe provides a helpful list of which fish to eat: no, never, depends, sometimes and absolutely, always. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Book Description

Taras Grescoe has gone fishing in the world's oceans and rivers, and he's caught a big one - several of them in fact. In his epicurean and ethically driven quest for the perfect seafood dish, Grescoe nets some shocking discoveries about the fish we eat, where they come from and the often slimy inner workings of the multi-billion dollar industry that depends on them.

Bottomfeeder is designed, menu-style, as an account of Grescoe's globe-trotting, seafood-eating journey. He takes us from the familiar - a deep-fried visit to a Red Lobster franchise in North Carolina, where he chows down on popcorn-battered shrimp laced with chemicals, imported as local Gulf shrimp trawlers sat idle - to the foreign, such as a stay in Kochi, India, where Grescoe discovers how the curry-simmered fish and prawns he is enjoying have actually contributed to unprecedented ecological and social devastation, including playing a role in the 2005 tsunami disaster. Along the way, in a fork-to-fishing-line discourse, he tours the world's largest fish market with a marine biologist, takes celebrity chefs to task for putting threatened species on the menu and partakes in a few once-in-a-lifetime meals guaranteed to shock - and even kill - the palate. Much more than a screed against an often slippery fishing industry, however, Bottomfeeder is a food lover's highly entertaining and provocative delight, written by an intrepid adventurer who loves to dish on what's delicious, exciting and ethically digestible.

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Amazon.com: 4.7 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read on an important issue, Jun 18 2008
By T. Hooper - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood (Hardcover)
Bottomfeeder is an excellent read on a critically important topic. The book documents the massive overfishing that combined with environmental pressures is driving many fish species to the point of extinction, and that much of the cheap seafood on our plates is not safe or sustainable for humans or the planet. Unfortunately, this issue has gotten limited coverage outside the environmental media and for many readers Grescoe's book will be an eye opener that explores new territory.

Marine biologists estimate by 2040 a large number of species will be decimated. If whole sections of the aquatic food chain go the way of once plentiful Chesapeake Bay oysters and blue fin tuna, what will happen? Grescoe jokes about fish and chips being replaced with jellyfish and chips as a lighthearted way to highlight the issue. As he points out, fishing is the only large scale hunting activity still carried out in the wild. Decades of massive, industrial scale fishing are an uncontrolled experiment, upturning species in every ocean, turning predator into prey and destroying environments and human health through questionable fishing techniques, unsafe farming practices and black markets.

Nobody escapes responsibility for this mess, but Grescoe turns what could have been an angry polemical rant into a globe trotting adventure and keeps Bottomfeeder enjoyable to read. His love of food shines through on every page as he talks to fishermen, scientists, bureaucrats and chefs. By the end of the book, the root cause of overfishing is shown to be the familiar toxic brew of greed and ignorance familiar to the environmental genre, aided by ineffective government oversight and often compounded by chefs whose promotion of a tasty fish can spell disaster for a species.

The tragedy is that Bottomfeeder may be too late to have a large impact. Chesapeake Bay oysters will likely never return and the race to the bottom is well under way around the world. The book does however give some excellent suggestions on fish to enjoy and species to avoid, leaving the reader a small part to play in turning back this "tragedy of the commons".

Even if you don't read this book, check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium website for "Seafood Watch", a handy guide on sustainable seafood.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent and practical guide as well as a great read, May 8 2008
By matthew stillman "born and raised in book stacks" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood (Hardcover)
If you are a junkie for food politics and ethical and healthy food choices this book stands with Pollan, Nestle, Schlosser and Shiva.

The book takes the reader up and down the food chain as both a diner and a social/environmental critic.

even for the well informed amongst us there is lots to learn and appreciate. Grescoe connects lots of dots and makes eating seafood a fully engaging activity.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent as well as entertaining, Jun 25 2008
By Billie Jo Kariher-dyer "India's Mom" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood (Hardcover)
BOTTOMFEEDER
By Taras Grescoe
I was really looking forward to reading this book and I was not disappointed. When it comes to eating seafood responsibly I have always felt at a loss for information. First of all I grew up in North Eastern Ohio and the only "local" fish there came from Lake Erie and there was a time that no one would eat fish from Lake Erie. I also am allergic to just about every kind of shell fish. So beyond the Gortons Fisherman my palate is unrefined to say the least. After reading this book I have a much better understanding of how the oceans of our world are being affected by the lack of understanding on the part of most of its people. This book, over the course of 10 chapters takes the reader through the problems facing our most endangered species of fish as well as the many reasons why these fish are endangered. It is not one simple problem but the answer is actually not that difficult to implement even though it is not popular every where. The answer is being informed and not accepting practices that are destroying our oceans. If we don't buy products that are not ethically produced there will be no market for them. I liked the fact that every chapter had a focus on a specific fish and its ecosystem. What the challenges were for that ecosystem and what could be done about it. Because of this chapter by chapter approach when I want to reference the book again in the future I will have a much easier time finding the information I need. It seems to me after reading this book that the two main culprits in the problems facing our oceans is ignorant indiffference on the part of the consumer and the greed of those that see the ocean as a source of income and not a way of life. I will never look at seafood the same way again. While I am not a big seafood consumer myself I now want to explore eating the fishes that are sustainable and incorporate them into my family's diet. After all fish is brain food. I liked this book a lot even though it was not a fast read. I had to work my way through each chapter because it was filled with so much information. The author does include a good index in the back as well as an appendix to resources. There also is a section on which fish to eat and which to avoid. My only real complaint is that I wish it had a good recipe for sardines.
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 21 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars 

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