Alaska Codfish Chronicle
557 pages, 6 x 9
70 halftones
Paperback
Release Date:15 Aug 2019
ISBN:9781602233898
Alaska Codfish Chronicle
A History of the Pacific Cod Fishery in Alaska
University of Alaska Press
Cod is one of the most widely consumed fish in the world. For many years, the Atlantic cod industry took center stage, but partly thanks to climate change and overfishing, it is more and more likely that the cod on your kitchen table or in your fast food fish fillets came from Alaska’s Pacific Cod Fishery.
Alaska Codfish Chronicle is the first comprehensive history of this fishery. It looks at the early decades of the fishery’s history, a period marked by hardship and danger, as well as the dominance of foreign fishermen. And the modern era, beginning in 1976 when the United States claimed an exclusive economic zone around the Alaska coasts, “Americanizing” the fishery and replacing the foreign fleets that had been ravaging the resources in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Today, the Pacific cod fishery is, in terms of poundage, the second largest fishery in Alaska, and considered among the best-managed fisheries in the world.
This history is extremely well documented, does not spare details, and is accessible to general readers. It incorporates nearly a hundred photographs and illustrations and is sprinkled with numerous observations from fishing industry journals and reports, even incorporating poems and recipes, making this an especially thorough and unique account of one of Alaska’s most iconic and important industries.
Alaska Codfish Chronicle is the first comprehensive history of this fishery. It looks at the early decades of the fishery’s history, a period marked by hardship and danger, as well as the dominance of foreign fishermen. And the modern era, beginning in 1976 when the United States claimed an exclusive economic zone around the Alaska coasts, “Americanizing” the fishery and replacing the foreign fleets that had been ravaging the resources in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Today, the Pacific cod fishery is, in terms of poundage, the second largest fishery in Alaska, and considered among the best-managed fisheries in the world.
This history is extremely well documented, does not spare details, and is accessible to general readers. It incorporates nearly a hundred photographs and illustrations and is sprinkled with numerous observations from fishing industry journals and reports, even incorporating poems and recipes, making this an especially thorough and unique account of one of Alaska’s most iconic and important industries.
'An engaging story with broad appeal, as both a popular history narrative as well as an essential reference for researchers studying the history and present-day evolutions of this multi-billion dollar industry.'
―Sea History
This history is extremely well-documented, does not spare details, and is yet accessible to general readers. It incorporates nearly a hundred photographs and illustrations and is sprinkled with numerous observations from fishing industry journals and reports, and even includes several poems and recipes. Overall, this is an especially thorough and unique account of one of Alaska’s most iconic and important fisheries.
Extremely comprehensive, from the early days of the development of the fishery, to the competition with foreign boats, and the emergence of the modern fishery. . . . This will be a substantial contribution to the development of Pacific fisheries.
Alaska codfish chronicle is an enjoyable book which completes the picture of how humans have exploited members of the Gadus genus....Worth reading by any fishery biologist interested in the history of fisheries and to the lay person who enjoys reading about exploration and the development of renewable resources.
...interesting' and '...straightforward,' 'Thanks to [its] approach, the book is highly accessible and would be useful in any general collection, attracting readers with an interest in fisheries in general as well as those drawn to the Alaskan codfish culture in particular.
James Mackovjak has been involved with Alaska’s fisheries since he first arrived in Alaska in 1969, working as a commercial fisherman and operating a small fish-processing business at Gustavus, in Southeast Alaska. His books include Aleutian Freighter: A History of Shipping in the Aleutian Islands Area and Alaska Salmon Traps.
