Customer Reviews

Salmon Without Rivers: A History Of The Pacific Salmon Crisis

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you ever wondered why taypayers spend $1 billion a year on salmon, but there aren't any fish to catch, this is the book for you. "Salmon Without Rivers" brings together the scientific, economic, political and social causes that have resulted in salmon decline. If there is a philosopher when it comes to Northwest salmon issues, it is Jim Lichatowich, and his book will provide context and insight for anybody who is interested in the preservation of these Northwest icons. A significant book, by a thoughtful and wise man.

Pacific Salmon have been on the decline for well over a hundred years despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on hatcheries and recovery programs. This book makes clear where we went wrong and points positive directions to begin recovery. Extremely readable, impressively documented and written with the passion of someone who clearly loves the Pacific Northwest environment

As a freelance author writing a piece about salmon for a California-based magazine, this book was indispensible and eye-opening. It is unfailingly sensitive and intelligent about salmon, discussing the fish as fellow creatures in the "natural economy" in which we all live, rather than as mere commodities in the "industrial economy" that has transformed the West in the last 150 years. It is fascinating about the geology that shaped the salmon's environment, the evolutionary history of the fish, the relationship between Native Americans and salmon in the Northwest, and it provides a detailed history of the many factors that have led to the salmon's decline, including habitat destruction, misbegotten hatchery programs, overfishing, dams, mining, grazing, irrigation. If you like to read books about ecology, the creatures of the earth, fish, or the Northwest--you can't go wrong. This is a wonderful book.

I lived my whole life in this area and I had no idea the full extent of the damage we have done. Mr. Lichatowich presents us with a very well researched and thoroughly compeling book. I would recommend this to anyone that loves the Northwest.

A thoroughly researched and impassioned presentation including the history of salmon, their decline, why billions of tax dollars in restoration efforts have had paltry returns, and insights into the where we should go from here. A complex issue is examined from many perspectives in an easy to read and compelling book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in salmon.

Definitely a book that should be read by anyone who cares about nature. What is happening to the northwest salmon is indicative of what is going on in the rest of the world.

Aside from the fact that hatcheries do more harm than good, the hatchery program is an example of pork barrel politics at its finest. To think taxpayers put up the money for the salmon industries raw product in order for them to catch and pack the salmon, then charge us exorbitant amounts to buy it back. Only in America.

What is the next step? What can the average person do to help? Where do we go from here? These are questions that I came away with.

This is a must read book for anyone interested in salmon, rivers and the ecology and history of the Pacific Northwest. Excellent information and a good read.

This is an excellent book that documents the history of salmon, how native Americans viewed them and how modern Americans view them. It focuses on why the pacific northwest is facing a salmon crisis, and our failed attempts to replace what we have lost. Great read for anyone who is concerned about environmental issues.

If you want to start to understand the current controversy, read this book first. His commodification theme is quite important. We view salmon and rivers as commodities to be used by humans. We believe that technology will fix all problems. The author concludes by suggesting that we need a new story in regard to our relation with the environment. It only through the construction of a new grand narrative in relation to human's relationship with the environment can we hope to bypass the dams. Given the current political climate and worldviews, let's not hold our collective breathes.

Salmon Without Rivers is a great book of historical facts. It includes many issues like; original salmon locations/populations, "Economy over Environment" issues, and the ineffectiveness of large decision making commissions/agencies. However, with all his good background information the book does not propose any solutions nor investigates today's coastal human communities as they relate to the salmon and/or habitat.