The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

Similiar in nature to his "The Big Oyster," this book recounts the glory days and tragic demise of the succulent and valuable cod fish. I was very grieved over this ecological and economic disaster, brought on as usual, by human greed and thoughlessness. Now of course, I can't go to the fish market without feeling guilt which is terrible since he gives the reader wonderous Early American recipes for stews, cheeks, and the wonderful salted cod dishes indigenous to Brazilians, Basques and Africans who have loved this trade fish for centuries.

The author, in writing about the history of Gloucester, captures the feel of the city and its inhabitants well. Beginning with the discovery of the town, and progressing through the history, the author demonstrates well some of the ups and downs that have occurred in Cape Ann over the past several centuries. From the history of the city, the author slips gently into the reasons that fish stocks are declining and discusses the animosity found between government regulators and the people who earn a living fishing. While not detailed, it does present an easy to understand look at the problems associated with fish stock management. In addition, the book compares similar towns in other countries to allow the reader to realize that this is not a problem that exists strictly within the northeast portion of the US or with a single port. He also examines the effect of tourism on the towns and the problems tourism can create in working fishing villages. This book is a good general look at the history of Gloucester, as well as fish depletion. It is a recommended read to anyone who is interested in the life style in a fishing community as well as how the fishing industry is in trouble. For people who are interested in more detail on the plight of the New England fish stocks, and the views of both government regulators and the fishermen, I would highly recommend "The Great Gulf: Fishermen, Scientists, and the Struggle to Revive the World's Greatest Fishery by David Dobbs. It is a detailed look at the problems from both sides and goes into detail on the subject.

Anyone with a passion for coastal United States will appreciate Mark Kurlansky's portrait of Gloucester. He captures the essence of Gloucester and at the same time the challenges of its fishing community. While most news journalists simply write off this great working port, Kurlansky leaves us with an appreciation of not only Gloucester's robust past but its link to today. The Last Fish Tale is tough to put down once you start.The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town

As I read the book, and as I sit here writing this review, my windows are open to the sea air and the shouts and cheers of crowds on Pavillion Beach as they watch the Greasy Pole Competition here in Gloucester, the competition that Mark Kurlansky writes about in the opening chapter of "The Last Fish Tale". "Viva San Pietro!" The cry goes up over and over. "Hooray for Saint Peter!" But these days the local fishermen here need more help from St. Peter to keep their way of life alive than to save them from dangers of the sea. With his usual wit, elegance, and deep intelligence, Kurlansky has crafted a book that is fascinating on many levels. He begins his tale with an early history of Gloucester, including how the town got its name, and moves gracefully through the centuries salting his story with anecdotes about people that may seem like colorful characters to most readers but are friends and neighbors to me. Kurlansky talks about "Gloucester Stories". Those stories abound and flourish --- stories about fishermen and artists and writers and inventors --- each with their own particular perspective on America's Oldest Seaport. I came to Gloucester some 15 years ago because I was writing a book steeped in the maritime history of the Great Lakes (The Old Mermaid's Tale). I fell in love with a Gloucester fisherman and am still here. That is my Gloucester Story. It could be the same for many of the people Kurlansky tells of, the fishermen who came from Sicily in search of a better life, the artists who came because of the beautiful light, the writers who came because of the peace of the sea. For every story Kurlansky tells I can think of a dozen more but the reader will be given a delicious taste --- and no shortage of delicious recipes --- as they read this small, but richly varied book. The final chapters of the book are the most poignant. What is to become of Gloucester and all that is Gloucester? Using examples of other fishing towns in England and France, Kurlansky offers possibilities and hope that Gloucester can stay Gloucester but one has to wonder for how long? In a nation that is so hungry for authentic experience that we have spawned and entire industry of "reality entertainment" (sounds like an oxymoron to me) Gloucester and its working waterfront seems too precious to be lost but with an economy in decline and a desperate need to broaden the tax base it seems that Gloucester could well turn into a parody of itself --- a working seaport theme park or, worse, just another Boston bedroom community. "The Last Fish Tale" is an important book and Kurlansky has offered us much to think about. To Gloucesterites it might seem to only scratch the surface but there are other excellent books written by Gloucester fishermen, like Peter Prybot's Lobstering Off Cape Ann: A Lifetime Lobsterman Remembers or Mark S. Williams' F/V Black Sheep, to fill that gap. I hope that Kurlansky's book will find a much wider audience than just here on Cape Ann and that,

Do people in Gloucester run around saying, "That's Gloucester" whenever something the least bit provocative or odd happens as Mark Kurlanksy says they do in his, moving and rambling The Last Fish Tale to which he adds the sub-title " The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival of Gloucester, America's Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town." Maybe so, but I doubt it. Indeed, the saying reminds me of an equivalent saying --- "That's Bisbee" --- in Richard Shelton's Come Back to Bisbee (1992). The history, situation and future of the former copper mining town of Bisbee, Arizona parallel that of Gloucester, In this case, however, the town in question is an inland town surrounded by copper-toned hills a short distance from the life-threatening and life-giving Mexican border. Kurlansky's book cannot, however, be dismissed lightly for while some of his statements are exaggerated or veer toward the ridiculous, they are also provocative because they challenge readers, particularly readers who have lived in Gloucester, to weigh them carefully, in which case there is enough substance in them to provide nourishment of an ample, digestive character. (Digestion, or the culinary part of it, is a prominent sub-theme in the book.) During the Depression years when I grew up at the very edge of a damp, foul and smelly Gloucester inner- harbor before the Fish Pier, built in 1938, obliterated Five-Pound Island, I was aware of a "Gloucester spirit." Part of this had to do with the fact that within my own family and within the families of my neighbors there were direct ties to the sea and to fishing and to the knowledge that came from experiencing the loss of people who had drowned while wresting for their's and their families livelihoods from the tumultuous and, treacherous sea. But death is a fact of life, whether on land or sea, in the ocean, in the mines, in bed, or in the trenches. As in so many towns in the United States, the "Gloucester spirit" had a lot to do with the feats of local high school football, baseball, and basketball players. (In the 1940's it was mainly football) It was these players who were, for a season at least, the city's heroes. But regardless of whatever was first in public conversation or in newspapers, the fickle and haunting presence of the sea was always in peoples' minds, shaping their thoughts and fears and hopes. More than Lord Byron and Walt Whitman, who were fascinated by the sea's tidal comings and goings, the poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling, in his book Captains Courageous, sensed the challenge and the response the sea evoked. Kipling's tribute to manliness and egalitarianism was in the "Gloucester Spirit." In as much, as people need art to understand themselves, Kipling gave them what they needed. Other artists also expressed the "Gloucester sprit," most notably the sculptor Leonard Craske who gave Gloucester its most well-known icon, the Man at the Wheel who looks steadfastly out to the ocean and stee