[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Oregon State University Press
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
Jim Lichatowich’s book Salmon, People, and Place takes readers on a search for the core causes of salmon decline in the Pacific Northwest. The author tells the story of salmon from an ecological perspective and goes on to point out the several ways in which this story has been misunderstood and misrepresented while also suggesting solutions for improving the ecological status of this key member of the region.
Lichatowich’s approach is critical of self-serving claims of “success” with enhancing salmon production, as offered by institutions involved in salmon management. He traces the problem of salmon decline to the wrong conceptual foundations of the salmon management business – “business” since the management, as he goes to show, is economy-centered and not ecological at its core. Wrong conceptual foundations lead to wrong practices because their very perception of an ecological unit is wrong.
This book is easy to read and understand; it is virtually free of jargon and supplies clear definitions and illustrations where needed. It carries an important message as well as healthy doses of inspiration as we are offered a glimpse into the author’s own feeling and perspective of a personal journey that is rich in care for life and community in its broader, evolutionary sense.
This reviewer would recommend Salmon, People, and Place to any reader interested in life sciences, environment and ecology, critical thinking and/or sociology since it asks important questions and approaches its subject matter with logic.
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