Product Description
FISH SLEEP, BUT DON'T SHUT THEIR EYES is a photographic exploration into the Ocean world. Creatures you'll meet include dolphins, sharks,octopuses, and jellyfish. Readers will be amazed by the fun, fast facts, while teachers and parents will appreciate the light, informative text and easy-to-follow format. Melvin and Gilda Berger are the authors of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Scholastic Q&A series, among many other books for children. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comprehensive, Accurate, Helpful
An essential guidebook for California marine studies, covering immediate coastal-littoral to coastal deep-water Isaac's Kid level fishes. While working on a research ship in SoCal we constantly referred to this text- it's inexpensive, so there is little concern from salt-water damage; yet it is also highly accurate and systematic in it's coverage of marine fishes. Though the lack of color can hinder identification on occasion, the key identification features make up for any confusion. The text follows a scientific dichotomous key which allows for identification and comparison of closely-related fishes- helpful when trying to identify just what species you might be holding at the moment- and if it might be poisonous or not. Extremely useful for those of a scientific bent, with its use of terminology and scientific nomenclature, it is also usable by the layman because of the intricate drawings and clear, concise information. ... Read more

Product Description
This photographic and descriptive guide to the fish species that inhabit the North Atlantic and Mediterranean is unique in its emphasis on the appearance of marine fish in their natural habitats. It expands and recasts the Lythgoes' highly regarded first edition published two decades ago. In particular, all of the more than 200 color photographs are new, and most are accompanied by line drawings that emphasize distinctive traits. The fish are arranged by class, family, and species, and succinct descriptions give detailed information about anatomy, distribution, food, and breeding habits.Most of the photographs were taken underwater, providing valuable information on how the fish swims in nature, its true colors and pattern, and whether or not it is camouflaged against its natural background.The geographical area covered in the book includes the Atlantic coastal waters of the United States and Canada north of Chesapeake Bay; the Mediterranean; and from Gibraltar north to the Arctic, including all the coasts of Europe.John Lythgoe, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, is an expert on the appearance and color of fish underwater. The section of the book on the gobies, a group of fish that are as difficult to study as they are interesting, has been contributed by Peter J. Miller.Gillian Lythgoe is a diver, photographer, and the future and managing director of Planet Earth Pictures, whose collection covers a wide range of natural history and environmental subjects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent guide for atlantic fish
The reason I came to Amazon in the first place. This is an excellent guide. It is complete, a vast array of fish. Information on identification, with (through still pictures) an idea how the fish look underwater. Alsoinformation on behaviour. The only minor point are the drawings. Althoughthey are clear, they are quite dull (B+W) and when a key identification isa colour, well, that just doesn't work. A good idea would be do use arrowsfor key identification features (like in birdwatching-books). Recommendedfor cold water divers and other people with a biological interest.

Excellent guide for atlantic fish
The reason I came to Amazon in the first place. This is an excellent guide. It is complete, a vast array of fish. Information on identification, with (through still pictures) an idea how the fish look underwater. Alsoinformation on behaviour. The only minor point are the drawings. Althoughthey are clear, they are quite dull (B+W) and when a key identification isa colour, well, that just doesn't work. A good idea would be do use arrowsfor key identification features (like in birdwatching-books). Recommendedfor cold water divers and other people with a biological interest. ... Read more

Product Description
Pacific salmon are among the dominant fish groups and the main consumers of forage resources in the upper layer of the subarctic Pacific. In the last years, the majority of Pacific salmon species in North America and in Asia have experienced an increase in abundance, and their role in marine ecosystem has changed. This book examines the feeding habits and trophic status of the Pacific salmon in different regions of the subarctic Pacific under the influence of changing environmental factors. Moreover, this book deals with the present-day Norwegian regulations of saltwater salmon fisheries and particularly Norway's attempts to harmonise the interests of people and fish. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) constitute carcinogenic environmental contaminants such as dioxins. Fishes and particularly Salmonids are very sensitive to the PAH toxicity. The natural and anthropogenic PAH generations lead to an environmental contamination of water, sediments and feed of Salmonids, then to a fish contamination and finally to a human food contamination eating those contaminated fishes.The authors of this book discuss the monitoring of these chemical contaminants in salmon, essential to evaluate the pollution related to human activities and to guarantee the quality of fish as food for human consumption. In addition, the effects of replacing fish oil (FO) with rapeseed oil (RO) in Atlantic salmon post-smolt diets is discussed, and its subsequent effects on liver and muscle fatty acid (FA) composition and growth are described. This book also describes the high-pressure processing of fresh salmon and light preserved products like cold smoked salmon. Its effect on microorganisms, enzymes and organoleptic properties are analysed, as well as the process parameters, pressure, duration, and temperature affecting microorganisms, structure and colour, which all determine the market chances of the product. Moreover, the authors underline the influence of three main factors - super-chilling, dietary lipids and pre-slaughter crowding stress, on Atlantic salmon flesh quality, with a focus on the role of lysosomes and lysosomal enzymes, cathepsins B and L, in muscle structure degradation and flesh quality. ... Read more

Product Description

Recent decades have been marked by the decline or collapse of one fishery after another around the world, from swordfish in the North Atlantic to orange roughy in the South Pacific. While the effects of a collapse on local economies and fishing-dependent communities have generated much discussion, little attention has been paid to its impacts on the overall health of the ocean's ecosystems.

In a Perfect Ocean: The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean presents the first empirical assessment of the status of ecosystems in the North Atlantic ocean. Drawing on a wide range of studies including original research conducted for this volume, the authors analyze 14 large marine ecosystems to provide an indisputable picture of an ocean whose ecology has been dramatically altered, resulting in a phenomenon described by the authors as "fishing down the food web." The book:

• provides a snapshot of the past health of the North Atlantic and compares it to its present status
• presents a rigorous scientific assessment based on the key criteria of fisheries catches, biomass, and trophic level
• considers the factors that have led to the current situation
• describes the policy options available for halting the decline
• offers recommendations for restoring the North Atlantic

This is the first in a series of assessments by the world's leading marine scientists, entitled "In a Perfect Ocean." The State of Fisheries and Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean is a landmark study, the first of its kind to make a comprehensive, ecosystem-based assessment of the North Atlantic Ocean, and will be essential reading for policymakers at the state, national, and international level concerned with fisheries management, as well for scientists, researchers, and activists concerned with marine issues or fishing and the fisheries industry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comprehensive Report on the Sad Condition of the No. Atlantic Fisheries
This is a Pew Foundation funded comprehensive, scientific, data based report on the state ofthe North Atlantic Ocean fisheries. It takes in not only a consensus on the various fish types and their depleted numbers, but also ocean ecology damage effectingspawning areas, over-fishing by type methods and too many boats, disparities in derived fish protein gained vs energy spent to harvest, pollution, negative effects ofgovernment subsidies, boat buy-back and destruction schemes to reduce the size and numbers of fleets, fishing rules enforcement or lack there of , etc.

There are many graphs, references, and notes for further research- in a nutshell, this is bible for fisheries research.

This study concludes with several recommendations for reviving the health and productivity of the oceans with a caveat that there is little time left to implement them. As abundantly described, the oceans are in a dismal state affairs and the time to act was yesterday. A call for a new ethic in ocean conservancy and resource management is in order.

Daniel Pauly coined the popular concept of "Shifting Base-lines" to describe historical and current trends in ocean health and this term has now been embraced and spread throughout just about all disciplines to measure and describe change over time. Indeed, everything from fish numbers over time, availability ofresources to one's waste-line changes. A very useful tool in describing the vagaries and impact of change over time!

UPDATE: In the April, 2007 National Geographic Magazine, there is an alarming and lengthy series on the dismal state of the World's ocean fisheries "The Global Fish Crisis". Complete with good text, research data and those famous NGM photos.


... Read more

Product Description
Bringing together for the first time most of the available biological information on the seven species of Pacific salmon, this comprehensive and fully illustrated volume provides an authoritative reference source on an economically and ecologically significant group. It is an invaluable source of information for students and teachers of fish biology and fisheries science, and professionals in the fishing and aquaculture industries. Pacific salmon are an important biological and economic resource of countries of the North Pacific rim. They are also a unique group of fish possessing unusually complex life histories. There are seven species of Pacific salmon, five occurring on both the North American and Asian continents (sockeye, pink, chum, chinook, and coho) and two (masu and amago) only in Asia. The life cycle of the Pacific salmon begins in the autumn when the adult female deposits eggs which are fertilized in gravel beds in rivers or lakes. The young emerge from the gravel the following spring and will either migrate immediately to salt water or spend one or more years in a river or lake before migrating.Migrations in the ocean are extensive during the feeding and growing phase, covering thousands of kilometres. After one or more years the maturing adults find their way back to their home river, returning to their ancestral breeding grounds to spawn. They die after spawning, and the eggs in the gravel signify the beginning of a new cycle. Upon this theme Pacific salmon have developed many variations, both between and within species. "Pacific Salmon: Life Histories" gives detailed descriptions of the different life phases through which each of the seven species pass. Each chapter is written by a scientist who has spent years studying and observing a particular species of salmon. Some of the topics covered are geographic distribution, transplants, freshwater life, ocean life, development, growth, feeding, diet, migration, and spawning behaviour. The text is richly supplemented by many maps, illustrations, colour plates, and tables and there is a detailed general index, as well as a useful geographic index. "C. Groot is an ethologist who has studied and worked in the field of fish behaviour in the Netherlands and Canada.At the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia, his studies have centred on the migration of Pacific salmon, particularly on how they find their way during long-distance migrations, and on salmonid enhancement research. Recently, he has been appointed Climate Change Co-ordinator to examine the possible impacts that global climate changes may have on the fisheries resources of western Canada. He has also been a visiting professor at Simon Fraser University and at the Bamfield Marine Station. L. Margolis is the senior scientist at the Pacific Biological Station, in Nanaimo and an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University. Actively engaged for more than thirty-five years in research on Pacific salmon biology, his work has focused on. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

By scientists for scientists
This is a reply to the first review: this book is not meant for bed-time reading, it's a book by some of the premier salmon researchers of the 1970s and 1980s, written as a compilation of their knowledge of the various salmon species, and, as a summary "of much of the available biological information on the life histories of the seven Pacific salmon species," it's not for the casual reader, despite what the back cover says (Preface, x).
As for the comment that it doesn't "express a view about the declining salmon populations," it shouldn't.It's a book about the LIFE HISTORIES of salmon, not about salmon conservation or anything else.Also, each chapter is by a different scientist, rendering a conservationist agenda impractical.Finally, it was written before 1991, when neither the aquaculture nor the depletion of today were present in their present magnitude.That said, I think it is an excellent book--it has everything I've ever wanted or needed or might want to know about salmon (though some information might be a bit dated).My only wish is that the contributing authors had organized their chapters to make it more easy to find information about particular geographical areas.
The back cover states that it is an excellent resource for "students and teachers of biology or fisheries science, people in the fishing and aquaculture industry, and interested laypersons..." but interested parties might want to check the table of contents before purchasing this book.A more general and readable book worth perusal is "The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout," written by T. Quinn, another salmon scientist (2005).

Excellent Book on Salmon
I recently received this book, after waiting to get it for about 2 months. It is the most informative book about salmon ever, with information on everything salmon. It has few color pictures, but has some very interesting statistics in black and white. Though it does not express a view about the declining salmon populations, I'm sure you can find the reasons in the book. It had a lot of facts, but believe me, it wouldtake a lifetime to read through the whole book.
Why 4 stars and not 5? It was relatively boring. Unlike other books I've read about salmon, this one was developed like a textbook. I recommend it to someone who wants to know everything they can about salmon, not someone looking for some bed-reading. ... Read more

Product Description
Paul Watson has rammed fishing trawlers; smashed whaling ships; sailed boldly into Soviet waters; and brazenly challenged the government of all seafaring nations to live up to the letter of the laws they have agreed to and signed. Ocean Warrior is Paul Watson's own story--an amazing chronicle of courageous acts in support of deeply held convictions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

amazing!
This book will make you laugh and cry all at once.Paul is a great writer and has packed more adventure into his life that all the Star Trek episodes put together.Time after time as you read you are sure he is done for this time, will be dead or in jail, but time after time he miraculously prevails in his Pirate Vikinq quest to save the whales.

READ THIS BOOK!
One of the best books I have ever read!Without any question.Watson will make you laugh, cry, and most of all, get up and take action. He is one of the few humans I admire.For the most part I am so disgusted with my species I am ashamed to belong to the human race.Capt'n Watson and his crew are amoung the few souls I have any respect for.He is a true Mahatma.READ THIS BOOK!
I was taught humans are neither demons nor angels but occupy the spectrum in between.Well far too many of us gravitate towards one end of the spectrum don't we?And that's why our homeworld has become the cesspool that it is.If we make it out of this mess, it will be because of people like Watson.

Watson is a criminal
Watson wasn't enforcing international law, there was no international LAW against the "crimes" he claims whalers committed.He has stated elsewhere that he has authority to "enforce" this law from a [non binding] UN resolution that was issued many months AFTER he started sinking ships.
This is a self aggrandizing piece of droll from a common criminal.He gives a bad name to a good cause.
I'm very glad I had someone else's copy and I didn't spend my money on it.

We need many more like him.
I worked and sailed with Captain Watson for more than three years.You may not like the what he does or how he writes, but that doesn't matter one bit to him!His only concern is for those animals and ecosystems that he is fighting so hard to protect.He is an gifted leader and speaker, one of the world's most successful activists (if you count results rather than media attention), and has been an inspiration to and mentor of many others that fight for environmental justice.

Read this book, try to soak up some of his message and his passion - then do something with it.

Eco-terrorists of the world unite!!!!!
Paul Watson is one of the few hominids on this planet who actually knows what he's doing with his life.Over the last two hundred years humanity's impact upon Gaia has become exponential.Only people with his courage,compassion and vision offer us any hope."Whether 'tis better in themind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take armsagainst a sea of troubles and by opposing end them"-Shakespeare ... Read more

Product Description
Ages 7 to 14 years. This book provides children with a fascinating description of two of the most interesting fish species on Earth. Beautiful full-colour photographs and concise text help children discover how these animals with skeletons made of cartilage move through water and how they protect themselves from other animals in the oceans. Other topics include: where in oceans skates and rays live; the differences between the bodies of skates and rays; how skates and rays hunt and what they eat. ... Read more

Product Description
Did you know that we can explore the deepest regions of outer space, but that our own ocean still holds most of its secrets? The ocean, which makes up an impressive 71% of our planet, is still a relatively unexplored area of science. Fascinating facts like these make Bill Nye the Science Guy's-® Big Blue Ocean a compelling and essential read for young science fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Ocean science is fun!
Bill Nye The Science Guy has a winner, again. This one is the Big Blue Ocean. There are twelve easy to do experiments forchildren to do. How big is the ocean? That is the first question. It is answered veryinformatively, then it is followed by a great experiment to cement the concept for hands on learners. The whole book is formatted the same way with informational side bars added. Good third and fourth grade material.

not entirely accurate
I have a Ph.D. in oceanography and have taught it in colleges. I was looking at this book for clues on writing oceanography for kids. I didn't read every word but in my skimming I found two pretty bad errors. The book says gives theocean off Chile as an example of a region with very little life (WRONG! there's upwelling of nutrient-rich water there and it's an example of a region with a lot of life) and that chemosynthetic bacteria at hydrothermal vents make oxygen (NO! it's energy). The book is fun but for readers who don't know a lot of oceanography, beware.

Check It Out!
If your kids (and you!) love Bill Nye on TV, they'll also enjoy him in print form.Here Bill is up to his usual antics--but it's all serious science.This fun and accurate introduction to a number of aquaticconcepts is likely to "hook" kids--so be prepared to follow thisbook up with one that goes into more depth! ... Read more

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Product Description
Ages 7 to 14 years. From magnificent whale sharks to agile blue sharks Spectacular Sharks gives children clear insight into the behaviour, habitats, and physiology of these fascinating, prehistoric fish. This informative book also serves to dispel many shark myths. Beautiful, full-colour photographs accompany detailed text that explains: shark bodies and senses; different shark species; how sharks hunt and what they eat; why sharks are important to the oceans; how some sharks carry their babies inside them; why many sharks are in danger. ... Read more

Product Description

The state of the Northeast Atlantic fisheries in recent years has highlighted implementation as the Achilles heel of modern fisheries management: discards, unreported or misreported landings are in many cases recognised to effectively subvert sound conservation goals. Implementation is thus a key factor in avoiding fisheries crises. While social science literature on fisheries management has tended to regard the implementation of resource conservation policies as a question of effective enforcement, this book seeks to widen the perspective taken on implementation in fisheries management. The cases presented in this volume addresses legal, administrative, and political challenges regarding implementation of resource conservation policies. The book addresses problems relating to goal achievement, but also causes of deliberate change of political goals during implementation. Fisheries management systems are embedded in inert social structures and natural conditions that vary among different states. Consequently, the book takes a historical and comparative approach, describing the historical developments of national implementation systems and the conditions that shaped their development. It thus seeks to explain why national fisheries management systems have evolved differently, focusing on Norwegian, Faeroese, and EU/Danish management systems. The descriptive and explanatory outlines are accompanied by qualitative assessments of the systems effectiveness as tools for collective action.

Customer Reviews (1)

An inclusive reference, very well done
This is a quite inclusive book of Chesapeake Bay fish.Many Atlantic species that stray into the mouth of the Bay are also included.Excellent scientific drawings, many color plates, good concise text.It is geared towards reference (not a Sunday read).Very well done. ... Read more

Product Description
Forbes' Naked-Eyed Medusae is a seminal piece of marked distinction. This monograph, first published by the Ray Society in 1848, contains extensive examination of a group which attracted very little attention at the time, whilst the thirteen plates at the back of the book have become an invaluable record of the study of British naked-eyed medusae. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Interesting but not convincing

Ths book's core claim is that aquaculture uses more resources than other forms of fishing and is environmentally and socially unsustainable.However, Molyneaux does not really argue his case. Instead, he structures the book as a kind of journalistic travelogue, telling the story of how he met people, talked to them about these issues, and came to his conclusions.Throughout the book, his opposition to aquaculture rests more on vague discomfort than sharp analysis.

Molyneaux favors greater localism in our national and international economies, with people eating more locally-produced food.However, he doesn't really make the positive case for localism but rather makes negative statements about non-localism.Since it's possible that non-localism uses fewer resources than localism because it can exploit comparative advantage (even net of transportation impact), this is an issue that requires analysis and not just stories about local producers.

The book works best if you want the kind of socially-concerned journalistic ride that Molyneaux's offering.He gives the reader a good sense of two communities, one in Mexico and one in Maine, that have been transformed by aquaculture.The book doesn't have answers but it's asking the right questions.

Aquaculture and Fishing: Where We Are and Where We Are Headed
The author, who began his career as a fisherman aboard commercial fishing vessels has a good grasp of where commercial fishing has been and where it is headed. He captures well the mindset of many commercial fishermen that when one species becomes over fished and is no longer commercially viable that they will move on to the next species in the water while they wait for the original species to rebound. Sadly, as has been seen in a number of fisheries, the exploited populations do not rebound as expected, and many fisheries that were expected to be closed for several years are now going on several decades.

The "salvation" to these over used fisheries was to utilize aquaculture to farm various species. That was supposed to take the pressure off of the over fished species and allow a rebounding. However, as the author demonstrates clearly, the concept of aquaculture presents as many, if not more, environmental challenges than over fishing brought on to begin with. The question is whether the problems with aquaculture can be overcome to make it a viable industry. Many people are working on solutions, but it appears that new problems crop up almost as quickly as old problems are solved.

The author is passionate about the subject and does a good job of presenting a balanced view of the environmental, fisheries and aquaculture sides. It is up to the reader to infer where we will be and how we will handle the problems. The writing is well done, but as others have pointed out, there are numerous typographical errors. I tend to blame that on poor editing than poor writing, however it does make the reading slightly more difficult.

It is a good read
Typo's and structural errors galore but his research appears sound.A good read for $10.Mostly gets it right.Better when dealing with facts and issues than trying to write literary prose.I would advise a couple of other texts before this for serious aquaculture reading but for an intro this does well

a great book in need of a good editor
Molyneaux is a good writer.The format of his nonfiction piece, "Swimming in circles, aquaculture and the end of wild oceans" is compelling and his arguments are sound.He sets up a straw-man argument of "the wonders that aquaculture promises humanity" and then systematically unravels the false assertions and mistakes made by the capitalists and politicians involved in perpetuating the altogether poor environmental decisions that belie current aquaculture and commercial fishing practices.The first chapters highlight the positive effects that aquaculture has granted us from an optimist point of view and it slowly points out the flaws of farming monoculture seafood at commercially viable levels until it seems like a worse idea than simply fishing for seafood.

If you are of a camp that believes that there should be little to no environmental legislation or fishing quotas, you will hate this book after the first chapter, as Molyneaux is pro-regulation with an emphasis on sustainability.

Questioning aquaculture as opposed to wild fish harvesting leads Molyneaux to study the underpinnings of globalization and international trade.There are some great insights gleaned from this road of analysis: we don't compute the real price of fresh water or overfishing.

With that said, the book is hampered by editing mistakes.Molyneaux has missing punctuation in some entire chapters, (questions ending in periods or no commas where commas are needed) the occasional missing letters (low instead of slow), or format continuity.In chapter 4, "The boys," some of the "boys" have subtitles that sum up their positions in the field of aquaculture, while others, instead, have just a location after their name.Any editor could have caught these and fixed them to keep them from distracting a nitpicking reader.

If you are an educator in environmental or life science, there is 4 page synopsis on the crash of the sea urchin stock in Maine due to over-exploitation that would make a perfect excerpt to represent what has happened to so many other wild-caught sea food stocks.

Molyneaux searches out the truth
Paul Molyneaux is a former fisherman who knows what has happened and will continue to happen to families and communities who traditionally depend on fishing for their sustenance as the corporate fishing industry takes over. Is there no third way, that is, must we either destroy wild fish stocks or destroy fishing communities? I say this is a false dichotomy; we did not have to take this route of corporate fishing and aquaculture at the fishing families' expense. Like what happened to small farming in this country (and I suppose elsewhere) it is largely motivated by money, not conservation, if you look at the record. It is "efficient" say the supporters of industrializing the fisheries. Efficient for whom? Molyneaux (a fine writer) does an excellent job of digging out the truth, also in his previous book, "The Doryman's Reflection". But I doubt we can stop it. ... Read more