Their Fathers' Work: Casting Nets with the World's Fishermen [Paperback]

William B. McCloskey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2000

"A gritty, evocative account of commercial fishermen at work in a hard profession."

­­Peter Matthiessen, author of In The Spirit of Crazy Horse and The Snow Leopard

"His achievement has been to write a paean for a way of life."­­Smithsonian magazine.

Those who put to sea for a dangerous and chancy living could ask for no better chronicler than William McCloskey. McCloskey has sailed with fishermen and women in all the seas of the world, from Indonesian village fishermen, to a Japanese squid boat in the North Pacific, to cod fishermen on the Grand Banks and gill netters in Alaska, working alongside them as he went. Fishing is the last of the hunting occupations, a hard but fiercely independent life. In Their Father's Work, McCloskey's vivid prose puts you right on deck, working through pain, discomfort, and exhaustion as the decks roll, the spray flies, and the nets are hauled. His love of the boats, the fishermen, and the sea shines through this moving, fascinating tribute to a way of life.

"If I've delivered nothing but a lament for those of a dying culture, we'll be the poorer for it."­­William McCloskey.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A splendid, subtle portrait of the fisherman's lifefrom Hokkaido to Norway, Chile to the Java Seaby McCloskey (Highliners, 1978, etc.). After a stint in the Coast Guard, McCloskey shipped out on his first fishing vessel 20 years ago, and he has evidently been keeping notes on every voyage since, detailing the days and nights of those who pursue one of the most dangerous jobs on Earthfishing. He has fished for king crab in the Bering Sea in winter, when the crabs are at their plumpest and the sea its nastiest; he has chased cod on the 1,000-year-old foggy and doomed Grand Banks fishery; he experienced the industrial-scale sardine fishery of Chile and the artisan fishing of Indonesia from small wooden boats (no radar here; fish are tracked at night by their phosphorescent wakes). He has spent a good amount of time with the Japanese fleet and shares with them a lust for the delicacies of the deep. And he has served on patrol boats enforcing compliance with the welter of maritime laws. Thus, as McCloskey explains the taking of shrimp and cod and squid, he is also able to speak knowledgeably about ship machinery, fishing ports, trawling and purse seining, the grand Law of the sea and the lesser laws governing salmon catches and whale harvesting, and the continuing havoc wreaked by the Exxon Valdez (ten years later, the herring have not returned, nor have the harlequin duck and pigeon guillemot). And best of all, McCloskey feels and conveys the atavism inherent in hunting the ocean, which he balances with deflating counterpoints. Says one old hand, ``It's a livin', b'y, but it ain't much of a life now, is it?'' Tales of fishermen at peril in high seas are hugely gripping. What makes McCloskey's book so memorable is that it invests in the everyday lives of fishermen the same compulsive readableness. (color photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"McCloskey writes with first-hand knowledge and passion about the sea and the men and women who fish it, survive it, sometimes drown in it." (Audubon Naturalist News )

"The book is an eloquent statement about the poor health of the world's fisheries, as well as the lives of the world's fishermen. Few recent books have told their story in such epic proportions. (The Telegram ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (April 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007135820X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071358200
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,202,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Telling it like it is, June 1, 2001

By 

Emily Randolph Silva "yoohoodlleddo" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Their Fathers' Work: Casting Nets with the World's Fishermen (Paperback)

The best book I've read dealing with the social AND political AND cultural aspects of commercial fishing. Making no excuses for the industry or the people who condemn it. His stories are compelling and enrapturing as well as extremely informative. It'll give understanding of why the worlds oceans are in the state they are in and all the players who have caused it to be where it is. Enjoy!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have ever eaten a fish or crab, then read this book!, February 21, 1999

By 

Angus Wilson ([e-mail]) (New York City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Their Fathers' Work: Casting Nets with the World's Fishermen (Hardcover)

This is a superb book. McCloskey writes from such a deep base of personal experience, that within a few lines we are transported to the heaving, noisy and often foul-smelling deck of a rusty trawler pitching in a cold northern sea or the cramped camaraderie of the galley on a Japanese squid boat. You feel the shudder of the steel deck as the boat pitches into a steep swell, taste the salt in the air and gag on the stench of diesel fumes and dead fish. The book is a collection of essays, exploring the challenges that face commercial fishermen in various parts of the globe. We hear lots of languages - Russian, English, Spanish, Norwegian, Japanese and more - and experience very different cultures, each united by the sea and the grueling task of pulling food from its depths. Gradually, the similarities grow much larger than the differences. No matter where he is, McCloskey can rapidly blend into the crew becoming just one more figure shrouded in foul weather gear pulling in the nets. This remarkable desire to muck-in with the deckhands no matter how hard the work or how severe the conditions, is the secret to his vivid and exciting writing. I can never look at a piece of sushi or a bag of fish and chips in quiet the same way.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Insider's Hard Look at Commercial Fishing, August 5, 1998

By 

jack olsen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Their Fathers' Work: Casting Nets with the World's Fishermen (Hardcover)

There can't be another like William McCloskey in the worlds of fishing and writing. Imagine someone whose appetite for his subject is so strong that he spends half a lifetime hiring out as a working-stiff fishermen on commercial boats all over the world, then draws his conclusions in vivid, scalding, haunting terms. His realistic ideas might offend both knee-jerk conservationists and plundering meat-fishermen -- the surest sign that he has done his job well. When you finish this book, you will feel like wiping the salt spray from your face. A superb piece of work by a master fisherman and writer and the perfect companion piece to books like The Perfect Storm..