Giant Bluefin

by Douglas Whynott

Overview

This elegantly written and compelling work portrays the way the Japanese demand for giant bluefin tuna has altered the lives of Cape Cod fishermen.

In telling the story of one man's passionate hunt for giant bluefin, Douglas Whynott's Giant Bluefin details the competition and camaraderie in the bluefin fishery, the pressures of a conservationist movement seeking to limit the bluefin harvest, and the struggle of the fisherman himself against "the wild horses of [the] fish species."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466805972
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	06/30/1996
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	242
File size:	375 KB

About the Author

Douglas Whynott is the author of Following the Bloom, Giant Bluefin, and A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time. He lives near Hanover, New Hampshire, and directs the M.F.A. writing program at Emerson College in Boston.

Douglas Whynott is the author of Following the Bloom, Giant Bluefin, and A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time. He lives near Hanover, New Hampshire, and directs the M.F.A. writing program at Emerson College in Boston.

Editorial Reviews

The world's largest finfish, the bluefin tuna can grow to 10 feet and weigh 1500 pounds. It is a favorite with the Japanese, and a single fish has brought $42,000 (a piece of sushi in a Tokyo restaurant can cost $75). Whynott (Following the Bloom) takes us through two seasons of bluefin harpoon fishing off the New England coast from Cape Cod to Maine. He introduces Bob Sampson of Barnstable, whose family has lived and fished on Cape Cod since colonial times. Many bluefin fishermen, Sampson included, use spotter planes; Whynott goes out with one pilot. He observes the catch by Sampson's and other boats and details the route from dockside to the Tokyo fish market. In 1992, environmental groups attempted to limit the catch; fishermen argued that population stocks were plentiful. Whynott has written a fascinating story of the bluefin and the Cape Cod fishermen. (June)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Bluefin tuna, highly prized by the Japanese for sushi and sashimi, are caught by harpoon by New England fishers in the Gulf of Maine. The boats work in tandem with pilots flying overhead, who spot the presence and position of schools of fish. Whynott (English, Mount Holyoke Coll.) spent time with fishers and pilots working out of Cape Cod to become familiar with all aspects of the bluefin tuna fishery, including tuna physiology, marketing economics, and the efforts of conservation interests to limit the catch. Although it may appeal only to a limited audience, this is a beautifully written account full of human interest about the lives of the spotter pilots and several members of a fishing family. Appropriate for specialized collections and for public libraries in fishing communities.-Judith B. Barnett, Pell Marine Science Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston

Library Journal

Bluefin tuna are the largest finfish in the ocean and the fishermen who harpoon them, one at a time, lead a traditional, athletic, even heroic life, according to Whynott. The author spent two seasons in the company of a 47 year-old Cape Cod harpooner and tells the story of his "passionate hunt for his noble and elusive prey," as well as the struggle between the fishermen and conservationists. No scholarly trappings. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Whynott's superb report on the bluefin harpoon fishery takes readers to the old whaling grounds off Cape Cod and shows that the adventure and controversy associated with that extinct American industry survive today, on boats with names like Scratcher, Back Off, and Tenacious.” —The New Yorker

“Whynott portrays these "true sons of the whalers of old" with sympathy and understanding in a book filled with depth and drama.” —Andrea Barrett, Outside

From the Publisher