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The Nature of Borders: Salmon, Boundaries, and Bandits on the Salish Sea
Winner of the 2014 Albert Corey Prize from the American Historical Association
Winner of the 2013 Hal Rothman Award from the Western History Association
Winner of the 2013 John Lyman Book Award in the Naval and Maritime Science and Technology category from the North American Society for Oceanic History
For centuries, borders have been central to salmon management customs on the Salish Sea, but how those borders were drawn has had very different effects on the Northwest salmon fishery. Native peoples who fished the Salish Sea―which includes Puget Sound in Washington State, the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca―drew social and cultural borders around salmon fishing locations and found ways to administer the resource in a sustainable way. Nineteenth-century Euro-Americans, who drew the Anglo-American border along the forty-ninth parallel, took a very different approach and ignored the salmon's patterns and life cycle. As the canned salmon industry grew and more people moved into the region, class and ethnic relations changed. Soon illegal fishing, broken contracts, and fish piracy were endemic―conditions that contributed to rampant overfishing, social tensions, and international mistrust. The Nature of Borders is about the ecological effects of imposing cultural and political borders on this critical West Coast salmon fishery.
This transnational history provides an understanding of the modern Pacific salmon crisis and is particularly instructive as salmon conservation practices increasingly approximate those of the pre-contact Native past. The Nature of Borders reorients borderlands studies toward the Canada-U.S. border and also provides a new view of how borders influenced fishing practices and related management efforts over time.
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Winner of the 2013 Hal Rothman Award from the Western History Association
Winner of the 2013 John Lyman Book Award in the Naval and Maritime Science and Technology category from the North American Society for Oceanic History
For centuries, borders have been central to salmon management customs on the Salish Sea, but how those borders were drawn has had very different effects on the Northwest salmon fishery. Native peoples who fished the Salish Sea―which includes Puget Sound in Washington State, the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca―drew social and cultural borders around salmon fishing locations and found ways to administer the resource in a sustainable way. Nineteenth-century Euro-Americans, who drew the Anglo-American border along the forty-ninth parallel, took a very different approach and ignored the salmon's patterns and life cycle. As the canned salmon industry grew and more people moved into the region, class and ethnic relations changed. Soon illegal fishing, broken contracts, and fish piracy were endemic―conditions that contributed to rampant overfishing, social tensions, and international mistrust. The Nature of Borders is about the ecological effects of imposing cultural and political borders on this critical West Coast salmon fishery.
This transnational history provides an understanding of the modern Pacific salmon crisis and is particularly instructive as salmon conservation practices increasingly approximate those of the pre-contact Native past. The Nature of Borders reorients borderlands studies toward the Canada-U.S. border and also provides a new view of how borders influenced fishing practices and related management efforts over time.
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384 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 23, 2021
Oh man, this book is densely packed with juicy history that had previously been completely unknown to me.
First off, a pre-existing knowledge of the geography and natural environment of the Salish Sea/Puget Sound is extremely useful when reading this. I would have been pretty lost without it and, frankly, if I hadn't grown up in the area I might not have found this book as interesting as I did.
As it is, though, both the crucial importance of salmon and the arbitrary and permeable nature of the sea border between the US and Canada were impressed upon me from early on in life and as such reading about the tenuous and largely failed efforts to institute and subsequently police that border and manage salmon fisheries over the last 200 some years was a delightful experience. I often found myself thinking, 'oh that makes sense' when learning new facets of that history, a wonderful indication that a historical work has succeeded in helping me understand why things are the way they are now.
This paints a vibrant picture of life in the area oriented to salmon and the management thereof, from pre-contact indigenous practices and inter-group agreements to the massive influx of immigrants (both Asian and northern European) to the area and the complex impacts of (sometimes surprising in comparison to today) alliances and arguments along racial lines. I loved in particular the section on fish piracy and the discussion of how the philosophy of common resources and socialist movements fueled social acceptance of the practice. Technology, environmental conservation, food security, international relations, race and gender analyses, it's all here.
This is an academic work, and if you're looking for an academic resource I can't recommend it enough. I read it as a casual reader and still got quite a lot out of it but it was a little heavy on detail and repetitive in ways that occasionally tired me: these would have been features, not flaws, if I were using the book in an academic context, but as it was this pushes me to admit that while I heartily recommend this to those interested in the history of the pacific northwest or fisheries, I can't really recommend it full-stop as a casual read to someone without those interests. This is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5: the author does a completely wonderful job at reaching a specific audience and her work is well-constructed to do so, but she doesn't quite manage that rare feat of spectacular writing that makes me read an academic work and think, 'dang, I'd recommend this to anyone'.
First off, a pre-existing knowledge of the geography and natural environment of the Salish Sea/Puget Sound is extremely useful when reading this. I would have been pretty lost without it and, frankly, if I hadn't grown up in the area I might not have found this book as interesting as I did.
As it is, though, both the crucial importance of salmon and the arbitrary and permeable nature of the sea border between the US and Canada were impressed upon me from early on in life and as such reading about the tenuous and largely failed efforts to institute and subsequently police that border and manage salmon fisheries over the last 200 some years was a delightful experience. I often found myself thinking, 'oh that makes sense' when learning new facets of that history, a wonderful indication that a historical work has succeeded in helping me understand why things are the way they are now.
This paints a vibrant picture of life in the area oriented to salmon and the management thereof, from pre-contact indigenous practices and inter-group agreements to the massive influx of immigrants (both Asian and northern European) to the area and the complex impacts of (sometimes surprising in comparison to today) alliances and arguments along racial lines. I loved in particular the section on fish piracy and the discussion of how the philosophy of common resources and socialist movements fueled social acceptance of the practice. Technology, environmental conservation, food security, international relations, race and gender analyses, it's all here.
This is an academic work, and if you're looking for an academic resource I can't recommend it enough. I read it as a casual reader and still got quite a lot out of it but it was a little heavy on detail and repetitive in ways that occasionally tired me: these would have been features, not flaws, if I were using the book in an academic context, but as it was this pushes me to admit that while I heartily recommend this to those interested in the history of the pacific northwest or fisheries, I can't really recommend it full-stop as a casual read to someone without those interests. This is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5: the author does a completely wonderful job at reaching a specific audience and her work is well-constructed to do so, but she doesn't quite manage that rare feat of spectacular writing that makes me read an academic work and think, 'dang, I'd recommend this to anyone'.
August 15, 2023
This book is truly excellent in terms of research. It depicts fairly the native reality encountering white settlers and doesn't falsely glamorize the native population while remaining real about the stripping for resources that they suffered under the whites. They remain honest about the fact the natives would often lie to settlers or believe superstitiously even the most cooperative white people were bad luck. They even talk about the weaponization of cultural differences to disenfranchise white fisheries; by saying every last one of their tools would offend the salmon people, sometimes sailors were deterred.
It also speaks on detection, patrol, and the falsity of the market. It is very similar to my own experience. People claim they want things to be fair...for them. But when there's an opportunity for greed to lead to more access for them as a population, they turn a blind eye or even strip officials down bare. Most interestingly, I think it showed the true hypocrisy of borders. Americans had a false agreement to not engage in salmon fishing during certain times to let the salmon spawn and recover. It became clear to Canadians that first believed Americans could exercise such self-control in the face of such profits that they were wrong. They watched as the Americans said one thing while were unable to stop themselves from harvesting, putting Canadians at a huge loss for trusting the Americans had any honor. Unwilling to put their own fisheries out because of American greed, they too stopped obeying the contract. There were extensions for fishing times and pushes to extend the border south of the 49th parallel in certain places that were successful. Ultimately, conservation became a falsity to seem like people cared but nobody actually did, especially if they benefited the most. It's something I've seen repeatedly; people say they want to conserve, they say they want lack of corruption, but they don't have the self-control for it when it actually benefits them. And to me that really showed the relationship between honor, self-control, and quality of life as well as the developmental status of a nation.
This is a really good book on the content it speaks on. It is even-keeled, real about the racial issues at hand, and not condescending in terms of glamorizing the past or the native population. Nor is it excessively judgmental, often citing real causes for how things happened that may help us to solve them.
It also speaks on detection, patrol, and the falsity of the market. It is very similar to my own experience. People claim they want things to be fair...for them. But when there's an opportunity for greed to lead to more access for them as a population, they turn a blind eye or even strip officials down bare. Most interestingly, I think it showed the true hypocrisy of borders. Americans had a false agreement to not engage in salmon fishing during certain times to let the salmon spawn and recover. It became clear to Canadians that first believed Americans could exercise such self-control in the face of such profits that they were wrong. They watched as the Americans said one thing while were unable to stop themselves from harvesting, putting Canadians at a huge loss for trusting the Americans had any honor. Unwilling to put their own fisheries out because of American greed, they too stopped obeying the contract. There were extensions for fishing times and pushes to extend the border south of the 49th parallel in certain places that were successful. Ultimately, conservation became a falsity to seem like people cared but nobody actually did, especially if they benefited the most. It's something I've seen repeatedly; people say they want to conserve, they say they want lack of corruption, but they don't have the self-control for it when it actually benefits them. And to me that really showed the relationship between honor, self-control, and quality of life as well as the developmental status of a nation.
This is a really good book on the content it speaks on. It is even-keeled, real about the racial issues at hand, and not condescending in terms of glamorizing the past or the native population. Nor is it excessively judgmental, often citing real causes for how things happened that may help us to solve them.
November 5, 2019
I'm personally happy about moving along right into more of an industrial/environmental history focus in school. The first half of this book, I was madly in love with, but the second half, while it was interesting, I felt as if it didn't present enough information about impact on the environment. Maybe it's me, but I also have to read three other books on this same topic so guess I'll find out. One of them is all about Alaska, which is dangerous because I'm obsessed with Alaska.
December 3, 2024
Interesting book about salmon fishing, Native practices, markets, and the challenge of managing an international natural resource.
Probably someone's thesis. Chapter 4 could have been 20 pages shorter. Curious how this is differently managed than Atlantic cod. Would have liked a little on how Tribes specifically currently fish.
Probably someone's thesis. Chapter 4 could have been 20 pages shorter. Curious how this is differently managed than Atlantic cod. Would have liked a little on how Tribes specifically currently fish.
May 7, 2019
The concept the author attempts to introduce is exciting, but more can be said about how border-crossing fishers seeking salmon and better price as well as law-breaking activities related to fisheries are contextualized in the construction of border and conservation.
October 18, 2022
Great history of human's engagement with ecosystems, and the multitudes of damage done, not only to these ecosystems, but to each other.
dnf
July 6, 2023DNF @ 20%
February 10, 2024
An interesting look into the fishing and canning industry of the Salish Sea, and the history surrounding it.
September 23, 2024
Incredibly thorough and well researched.. as evidenced by a 21-page bibliography and 60 pages of citations.
August 10, 2014
We picked up Lisa K. Wadewitz's *The Nature of Borders: Salmon, Boundaries, and Bandits on the Salish Sea* on our Alaska adventure, but soon realized it's more about the salmon fishing industry along the US-Canadian border than about Alaska, though the two are very related.
Though verging on an academic "publish or perish" lingo and style (the book is published jointly by the University of Washington Press and UBC Press through the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, after all), Wadewitz still manages to unravel the complicated relationships among fishermen; canneries; the US, state and local governments; and Canadian provincial and national governments who all have had a stake in the area for many years. The Salish Sea encompasses the Georgia Basin and Puget Sound area, but of course, salmon aren't limited to these waters: from the ocean they swim through the Salish Sea into the numerous rivers, among them the mighty Fraser River.
The salmon never pay attention to whether they're in the US or Canada, of course. And that's what makes it so interesting.
With salmon valued by so many, it makes sense their arrival would be met with nets, traps, hooks, lines, and probably spears at one point. And because they seemed to arrive in such vast numbers year after year, no one seemed to be concerned that they could be over-harvested (except by the natives, who early on knew they should only catch what they could eat).
What resulted were a hodgepodge of rules and regulations and laws that were violated and ignored, where laws were enacted at all. Canneries hired fishermen who poached or stole what they couldn't catch. Those fishermen then sold their catch to the highest bidders, regardless of which side of the border the buyer was on. Bribing watchmen to look the other way while they emptied traps of tens of thousands of salmon only to sell them to the competitor (if not the same cannery they were stolen from) adds a level of intrigue to the plot.
Illustrated with helpful maps and photos, and with more than 80 pages of notes (!) this is more than a tale of salmon's effect on the northwestern corner of the US -- it's a well-researched argument for continued vigilence in protecting the salmon fisheries.
Though verging on an academic "publish or perish" lingo and style (the book is published jointly by the University of Washington Press and UBC Press through the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, after all), Wadewitz still manages to unravel the complicated relationships among fishermen; canneries; the US, state and local governments; and Canadian provincial and national governments who all have had a stake in the area for many years. The Salish Sea encompasses the Georgia Basin and Puget Sound area, but of course, salmon aren't limited to these waters: from the ocean they swim through the Salish Sea into the numerous rivers, among them the mighty Fraser River.
The salmon never pay attention to whether they're in the US or Canada, of course. And that's what makes it so interesting.
With salmon valued by so many, it makes sense their arrival would be met with nets, traps, hooks, lines, and probably spears at one point. And because they seemed to arrive in such vast numbers year after year, no one seemed to be concerned that they could be over-harvested (except by the natives, who early on knew they should only catch what they could eat).
What resulted were a hodgepodge of rules and regulations and laws that were violated and ignored, where laws were enacted at all. Canneries hired fishermen who poached or stole what they couldn't catch. Those fishermen then sold their catch to the highest bidders, regardless of which side of the border the buyer was on. Bribing watchmen to look the other way while they emptied traps of tens of thousands of salmon only to sell them to the competitor (if not the same cannery they were stolen from) adds a level of intrigue to the plot.
Illustrated with helpful maps and photos, and with more than 80 pages of notes (!) this is more than a tale of salmon's effect on the northwestern corner of the US -- it's a well-researched argument for continued vigilence in protecting the salmon fisheries.
April 3, 2015
This book is fascinatingly tedious. By which I mean, the author does an excellent job of teasing apart the many legal, economic and social realities of salmon fishing and conservation along the U.S./Canadian border, in a way that highlights the role of tedious (and sometimes obviously ridiculous, in hindsight) legislative acrobatics that so often hindered rather than helped the goals of both salmon conservation and economic justice within the fishing industry. It is poetic and powerful that a mobile species which migrates across hundreds of miles of open ocean before returning home to spawn, has so much to teach us about the ways we navigate boundaries and negotiate borders. My only disappointment with this book, as another reviewer already pointed out, is that I wish Wadewitz had spent more time on more recent developments in conservation and industry in the post-WWII era.
On the other hand, this book has PIRATES in it.
On the other hand, this book has PIRATES in it.
October 14, 2017
A great read on the transborder perspective of salmon fishing in the Salish Sea. Wadewitz shows all the complexities involved in placing boundaries and divisions on a mobile natural resource. I really liked my history class's discussion of the pictorial essay included after the introduction. The images illustrates the theme of the industrialization of the region's commercial fishing and the decline of native involvement.
January 29, 2014
Enjoyed it, but I'm a little biased b/c of the subject matter. She engaged an impressive amount of research. My only quibble is that I wish she would've taken her narrative of the border more completely into the post-WWII era when the US & Canada increased their efforts to harden the border.
April 10, 2014
An astute researcher herself, the book itself falls beyond short. Wadewaitz fails to articulate the evolution of the Canadian-U.S. border, loses sights of the role of Salmon, and overstates the importance of the Pacific Northwest. I'd expect a lot more from a book that took 5 years to write.
November 28, 2013
I liked the title, that's why i didn't give it one stars and it grew on me a little after thinking about. The tone bugged me, and the point wasn't too groundbreaking...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews