James Mackovjak

300-word description:
            While several books have been written about New England’s Atlantic cod fishery, comparatively little has been written about Alaska’s Pacific cod fishery. Alaska Codfish Chronicle is the first comprehensive history of this fishery. It chronicles the fishery from its inception in the early 1860s to the present day.
            During the first nearly nine decades of the fishery’s history—what the author terms the Salt Cod Era—cod were caught by dory fishermen using hand lines. Their stories were mostly of hardship and danger. The modern era of Alaska’s Pacific cod fishery began with the passage in 1976 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, under which the United States claimed an exclusive economic zone extending 200 miles from its coasts. “Americanizing” the fishery—replacing the foreign fleets that had been ravaging the groundfish resources in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea—was a complicated, freewheeling endeavor. Today, the Pacific cod fishery is, in terms of poundage, the second largest fishery in Alaska and is considered among the best-managed fisheries in the world.
            For a host of reasons, it is also Alaska’s most complex fishery. Because of the arcane technology often employed by those associated with the commercial fishing industry and the complexity of fishing regulations, fishing industry histories are typically dense This history—which is extremely well documented—does not spare details, but it is written in a manner that makes it accessible to general public. It incorporates nearly a hundred photographs and illustrations and is sprinkled with numerous, often pithy, quotations gleaned from fishing industry journals and reports. And, to add a light touch, it even contains several poems and recipes.
 
100-word description:
            Alaska Codfish Chronicle is a comprehensive history of Alaska’s Pacific cod fishery from its inception in the early 1860s until the present day. It explains the development of the fishery, its structure and management, the technology employed, and the challenges the fishery faces.
            This history is extremely well documented and is written in a manner that makes it accessible to those not familiar with the often arcane terminology often employed by those associated with the commercial fishing industry. It incorporates nearly one hundred photographs/illustrations and, to add a light touch, several poems and recipes.
 
One sentence description:
Alaska Codfish Chronicle is a comprehensive history of Alaska’s Pacific cod fishery, from its inception in the early 1860s until the present day.