The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lover's Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World

Loved this book! Very fascinating, the info is life changing! I bought 2 additional copies for both my sons and sent a can of sardines with it...didn't tell them this little surprise was coming...I can just hear their reaction when they received this in the mail.. :)) The farm to table push seems to be growing, but how many people really know about the fish they eat and what's going on with that? And if you're not eating fish, time to snap out of it! (unless of course you have an allergy) This would be required reading if I were a teacher! You'll never look at fish the same way again... if you love seafood, it's time to pay attention and protect this perfect natural resource!'

This book is written by the CEO of Oceana and seems to argue that we should eat small fish like anchovies and sardines. These indeed are delicious fish (particularly in their fresh as opposed to canned form), generally not eaten that much by Americans. However, they are also known as "forage fish",i.e., fish that marine mammals, other fish, and sea birds eat large quantities of as part of their regular diet. The odd thing is that Oceana has had a long standing campaign to "save" forage fish only for non-human consumption. Not as reduction for fish farms of tuna and salmon, but for wild ocean mammals, etc. Whales, seabirds, seals, etc don't generally eat tunas or swordfish, which this book tells us we humans shouldn't eat. These seems to be a very strange dichotomy!

Let us begin with the odd premise that eating wild fish when less than 20% of what was there 100 years ago is there now. Let us add the curious omission of the animals that are truly dependent on small fish and cannot swing by the grocery store for alternative proteins. Let us further consider that large fish (tuna etc) are loaded with toxins, including mercury, and that slavery and other human rights abuses are just part of the ugly supply chain that brings those fish to the table. And let us further consider that the fish that actually feeds people, rather than offering them choice at the supermarket are caught by local people in nearshore waters and will never be seen in national chain grocery stores. Onshore aquaculture has fed millions for millennia-- and more and more seafood is bring produced that way (well more than half to fill the world's demand now)-- cleaner water, no micro plastics, and the opportunity to ensure the smallest impact on neighboring waters, wildlife, and communities. Read Dr. Sylvia Earle's review. She knows better.

A long magazine article packaged to feel like a book. It was insightful and has led me to thoughtfully change my ordering habits at restaurants and groceries. What is peculiar / about the subject is how little traction this book has seemed to create. Everywhere I go, I continue to see Sea Bass, Swordfish, Tuna, Atlantic Salmon on the menu or in the fish market...very little in the way of shell fish and smaller feeder fish species. Unfortunately, the chances of my wife embracing the changes recommended by the author are remote.

I was recommended to read this book by an acquaintance who had recently learned about ocean problems. However, for someone with a science background in Earth and Ocean Science, this is not as interesting of a read.

I love to catch fish, eat fish, and just be on the ocean. I thought I was reasonably knowledgeable about all things salt water, but this book really opened my eyes about a variety of subjects.Andy is a not an "anti-fishing" nut, but applies common sense, backed by science, to maximize, in a sustainable way, the methods humans exploit the oceans. Also, some good advice on the best things to eat from the oceans!

This book is a concise and thoughtful examination of the current condition of our oceans and fisheries. It is very accessible and provides clear direction to solutions to our dilemmas. I recommend it.

Maybe this should be required reading in high school science classes. Thats what this is really about; the science of what seafood does in our bodies, why we can't live a healthy life without it, and how to eat responsibly to avoid consuming seafood that is not caught sustain ably.

Everyone should read this book, learn from it and start following the advice to protect our oceans for future generations.