The Most Important Fish in the Sea

Shows how menhaden have shaped America's natural - and national - history, and why a single company now threatens their crucial ecological mission. This work looks at the menhaden's decline. It also presents an exploration of American history, and gives a call to action.

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This is the story of a once abundant fish decimated by corporate interests.In this brilliant portrait of the oceans' unlikely hero, H. Bruce Franklin shows how menhaden have shaped America's natural - and national - history, and why a single company now threatens their crucial ecological mission. The same pudgy little fish that once saved the Pilgrims from starvation and helped power the industrial revolution are today being ground up by the billions and turned into everything from linoleum to lipstick. The massive harvest isn't just devastating one fish, but the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In Franklin's vibrant prose, the menhaden's decline becomes an adventure story, an exciting exploration of American history, and an inspiring call to action.