Salmon, People, and Place: A Biologist's Search for Salmon Recovery

by Jim Lichatowich

Each year wild Pacific salmon leave their oceanic feeding grounds and swim hundreds of miles back to their home rivers. The salmon’s annual return is a place-defining event in the Pacific Northwest, with immense ecological, economic, and social significance. However, despite massive spending, efforts to significantly alter the endangered status of salmon have failed.

In Salmon, People, and Place, acclaimed fisheries biologist Jim Lichatowich eloquently exposes the misconceptions underlying salmon management and recovery programs that have fueled the catastrophic decline in Northwest salmon populations for more than a century. These programs will continue to fail, he suggests, so long as they regard salmon as products and ignore their essential relationship with their habitat.

But Lichatowich offers hope. In Salmon, People, and Place he presents a concrete plan for salmon recovery, one based on the myriad lessons learned from past mistakes. What is needed to successfully restore salmon, Lichatowich states, is an acute commitment to healing the relationships among salmon, people, and place.

A significant contribution to the literature on Pacific salmon, Salmon, People, and A Biologist’s Search for Salmon Recovery is an essential read for anyone concerned about the fate of this Pacific Northwest icon.

Genres: Environment, Science

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

Reviews

[Paulette Lichatowich]

Jim, once again presents the wild salmon's story and the failures of salmon management. He says we must move beyond the status quo in order to save the salmon for future generation. I am married to the guy. Lucky me.

[Joseph Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the relationship of Salmon, people and place through history. The Salmon story has evolved millions of years, but with the influence of people, produced fish mitigating habitat the salmon story has changed for the worse. In the end the author, asks us a simple question: " Will the citizens of Salmon Nation undertake the difficult task of writing a new salmon story, a story infused with hope, and a story that will rebuild a healthy relationship among salmon, people and place?"

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part memoir, part rehashing of the author's previous books (as evidenced by how frequently he refers to them), and part (most) repetition. It's great that the author cares so much about salmon, but the writing in this book just didn't capture any of that spirit.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intense, well-written and thoroughly researched and documented discussion of the conflict over preservation of the salmon of the Northwest. Lichatowich, who spent his entire marine biologist career in fisheries management (in Oregon and Washington) provides deep perspective and passion to the narrative, confronting the destruction of the salmon ecosystem and the growth of "commoditized" hatchery salmon as the supposed alternative. A must-read for anyone interested in the long-term social, environmental and, ultimately, economic impacts of treating our natural resources as reproducible manufactured products, and how to avoid this impending crisis.