World Without Fish

by Mark Kurlansky, Frank Stockton (Illustrator)

Announcing the paperback edition of World Without Fish, the uniquely illustrated narrative nonfiction account—for kids—of what is happening to the world’s oceans and what they can do about it. Written by Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster, and many other books, World Without Fish has been praised as “urgent” (Publishers Weekly) and “a wonderfully fast-paced and engaging primer on the key questions surrounding fish and the sea” (Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish).?It has also been included in the New York State Expeditionary Learning English Language Arts Curriculum.

Written by a master storyteller, World Without Fish connects all the dots—biology, economics, evolution, politics, climate, history, culture, food, and nutrition—in a way that kids can really understand. It describes how the fish we most commonly eat, including tuna, salmon, cod, swordfish—even anchovies— could disappear within fifty years, and the domino effect it would have: the oceans teeming with jellyfish and turning pinkish orange from algal blooms, the seabirds disappearing, then reptiles, then mammals. It describes the back-and-forth dynamic of fishermen, who are the original environmentalists, and scientists, who not that long ago considered fish an endless resource. It explains why fish farming is not the answer—and why sustainable fishing is, and how to help return the oceans to their natural ecological balance.

Interwoven with the book is a twelve-page full-color graphic novel. Each beautifully illustrated chapter opener links to the next to form a larger fictional story that perfectly complements the text.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Nature, Childrens, Environment, Middle Grade

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2011

About the author

Mark Kurlansky is an American journalist and author who has written a number of books of fiction and nonfiction. His 1997 book, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997), was an international bestseller and was translated into more than fifteen languages. His book Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea (2006) was the nonfiction winner of the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Reviews

[Anh · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* cho mức độ đáng đọc và thú vị của cuốn sách này!!!
Hình minh họa siêu đẹp + cách dàn trang + kích thước font chữ cũng khiến cho người đọc không cảm thấy khô khan hay nhàm chán với các kiến thức khoa học và nghiên cứu thực tiễn
Cơ mà thích nhất là mấy câu trích dẫn nhỏ trong Nguồn gốc các loài của Darwin.
Bạn nào yêu thích và muốn tìm hiểu về đại dương có thể tìm đọc :)

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that Kurlansky has some really important information here to get across and makes important references to several organizations for more information. His balanced perspective between fishermen, environmentalists, and scientists is perhaps the best thing about the book, despite the gendered word "fishermen," and seems to really present an honest portrait of the situation. Unfortunately, the book has many problems with it. It does not include references for Kurlansky's research which is not to say that it seems to be made up but the reader deserves to be able to make her or his own evaluation. The biggest problem is that I think it really don't do a good job of presenting the desired information in the best way possible. The book is attractive but the text is a little dry with little excitement, making it a bit difficult for an interested adult to get through and actually understand most of it. The visuals are nice and make the book attractive, but rarely do the pictures help promote understanding rather than decorate. Somehow there is also the idea that making different parts of the text bigger and different colors will make the book exciting and more accessible. I found it to be okay but in some case obnoxious and cut down on the information flow. As a good reader, I am used to skipping the large text because it often repeats what is in the small text and found it difficult to remember to pay attention to the important sections. I like the graphic novel-like sections and enjoyed a female scientist character in Ailat but wish the author had just gone with Mark and Talia rather than trying to disguise the names. Not to harp on the visuals, but the book misses many opportunities for conveying information through diagrams and pictures and maps. It seems like it's just stuck in traditional book land and needs to break free! I'd love little sections on "getting to know" the main species of fish talked about like cod and herring that could break outside a linear text and create more personal connections with the situation. The last chapter and some appendices make a valiant attempt to turn the conversation to how kids can take action with some more accessible lists but it's unclear if a child would actually make it to the end of the book. In all, I think this is a good book with an important message but is unfortunately a rather poor children's book.

[Trung Rwo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Một cuốn sách nhập môn dễ đọc, đầy thú vị nói về toàn cảnh đại dương và ngư nghiệp đang dần tuyệt chủng dưới sức ép của sự nóng lên toàn cầu, ô nhiễm và săn bắt quá mức. Nhưng rõ ràng, đối tượng giáo dục của cuốn sách là dành cho người trẻ, đặc biệt là trẻ em - các chủ nhân tương lai.

Sử dụng các luận điểm trong "Nguồn gốc các loài" của Darwin, tác giả gợi lại những mối liên kết giữa con người với vạn vật và cảnh tỉnh sự biến đổi của cá sẽ ảnh hưởng tới Trái Đất ra sao. Với những fact và opinion gọn, đanh thép và nhấn mạnh liên tiếp, cuốn sách là một resource đáng tin cậy cho người lớn, đồng thời cũng đầy khơi gợi cho các độc giả nhí muốn tìm hiểu về môi trường nhờ cách dàn trang, hình minh họa và truyện tranh lý thú.

Đây là cuốn sách mà các phụ huynh nên mua cho con em mình đọc.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book popped up on the "New" shelf at the library and I was surprised that I had not heard anything about it.

Targeted at young adults, it is a great springboard into biological sciences. Kurlansky writes in a sophisticated style that will be appreciated by teen readers. The book is heavily illustrated with intermittent "comics" following a ocean scientist and his daughter, but there is also quality science writing here. With Kurlansky's own background in commercial fishing, he brings an historical, economic and cultural side to conversation about ocean conservation. He discusses the history of commercial fishing and how inventions and practices like "trawling" got us to where we are today.

The book is a call to arms on protecting the oceans, and specifically practicing sustainable fishing. He clearly states that in 50 years, the oceans will look very different than they do today (like the title says a "world without fish").

This book would be a classroom hit with lots of details to cover and bring in larger scientific themes, and it would engage young adults.

[India · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book! I learned a lot and my daughter is angrier than ever about the way we treat the planet.

[Violet Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

incredibly depressing for a middle grade book but it’s also the reality of things so isn’t that lovely

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Kurlansky talks about the consequences of messing with an ecosystem that we don't understand - the ocean. He talks about the history of fishing and over-fishing, the cooperation/disagreement of scientists, fishermen and government policy makers, the possible future outcomes of fishing to the point of species extinction, as well as how pollution and global climate change play a part in the health of the oceans. He does this in a fairly easy to absorb style, although the text set outs and the changing fonts are a bit distracting. The comic book style narrative definitely added to the message here. I found myself pretty darn surprised at how quickly I'd read it and how I wanted to keep reading it. For me, informational texts are primarily dry and difficult to stick with for long periods at a time, but I read this straight through.

As an educator, my school uses this book to teach how authors use text features to convey or emphasize the central idea and contrast it with how an author conveys theme in a fiction story. It's an excellent book for that purpose. I don't know that I would use this for analyzing how an author supports arguments with evidence though. There are plenty of anecdotes and references to scientific studies or historical information, but the author doesn't really cite his references clearly. I did absolutely love the amount of history that was in this book (being a social studies teacher) and found the history of fishing to be quite interesting...especially the fact that our current status of "over-fishing" was predicted back in the early 20th century, but government didn't want to do anything about it and scientists and fishermen didn't listen to each other. Lesson to be learned there. The author also does a good job of point out that it's not so easy to go backwards, that the problem of over-fishing came about because of technology and there's not putting that back in the box (fishermen gotta make a living and they do that by catching as many fish as they can), so he puts out some suggestions for how to take steps. I found this to be pretty enjoyable as an adult, but can see how younger folk might struggle a bit with it.

[Rachel Polacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great nonfiction read for middle school, full of pictures and accessible information about how fishing has such a huge impact on the environment.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fish, despite often being small and underwhelming, are vital to Earth successfully existing. World Without Fish, written by Mark Kurlansky, tells just why fish are so important to the Earth, and what it would be like without them. Using simple language and colorful pictures, Kurlansky gives the reader a glimpse into a what a world without fish would really be like. He uses choice facts and descriptions to give the reader an in-depth understanding of over-fishing, how it came to be, the effects and devolving fish populations, and what a a world without fish would be like.

Thankfully, Kurlansky's light language makes the idea of over-fishing and his solution to it, sustainable fishing, easy to understand, so the age recommendation of 9+ is fitting. The pacing of World Without Fish may be slow at times, but it did not interfere with my enjoyment of it too much. Interspersed between chapters are short, one page comics about "Cram" and "Ailat," a fisherman and his daughter, as Ailat grows up in a world at first filled with fish, but eventually devoid of them. These comics are fun and spiced up an already interesting and fun book. I would recommend World Without Fish to anyone who wants to learn about the crisis of fish populations worldwide.

[Andi Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stars are for the illustrations only. I felt the author, while clearly passionate about what he’s writing, had a really scary message. Climate change and extinction are scary things, and this may work for adults but, not kids. A nine year old is supposed to “demand information from a fishery?” There are no cited sources supporting his facts except Charles Darwin, and there’s a lot of “don’t do this or that” finger wagging instead of “here’s how we can help.” It’s easier for kids to know what to do if we tell them that, not what “not” to do. Just could’ve been delivered in a better way. On a design note: the use of black and navy doesn’t make sense, they’re too close together, one seems like a mistake. IMHO I would’ve used black OR navy…

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up because it combines a few of my interests - fisheries management and comic books! - without realizing it was written specifically for middle school / high school students. I'm not sure it really succeeds as a comic book - the illustrations didn't always feel very well integrated into what felt much more like a text book - but it was in informative explanation of the magnitude and complexity of global fisheries challenges. Reading a book like this makes me so sad, though, about the world we are leaving for our children.

[Vỹ Dương · Rating 5 out of 5]

Đây cũng là một quyển thuộc hàng kinh điển khi nói về môi trường nè, nhưng từ một góc độ khác. Nói cách thì đó là một giả thuyết, rằng sự tuyệt chủng sẽ bắt đầu từ biển, bởi vì nước là bắt đầu sự sống và cũng là nơi chịu ảnh hưởng nhiều nhất từ con người. Cũng giống như những giả thuyết khác, một khi một sinh vật trong chuỗi thức ăn biến mất thì sẽ kéo theo sự ảnh hưởng của các loài ở mắc xích tiếp theo. Từ vựng không quá chuyên nghành nhưng với những dẫn chứng sắc bén cũng đã đủ thuyết phục độc giả rồi. Thôi nói nữa là spoil á =))))

Sách minh họa khá công phu và chi tiết. Chỉ có một điểm trừ duy nhất là nhiều chỗ hơi nhức mắt, mà chắc đây là ý đồ của tác giả để tạo hiệu ứng ha =))))))

[Taylor Messick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s power in knowledge, and this book provides that in easy to understand stories and illustrations. The first part of the book is slow, and a bit repetitive, but as you read on, the message and the information is effective, engaging, and well written. The information about our oceans and ocean life is imperative for everyone to be aware of, and Mark does a great job sharing that.

[TJ Price-O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo!! So glad I decided to buddy read this with my middle schooler. I learned so much about the importance of sustainable fishing and its long standing effects on our world. Thrilled this is required reading in Wake County.

[Lynnette Dinh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Một cuốn sách hay cảnh báo những mối đe dọa đến sự tồn vong không chỉ của đại dương mà còn liên quan đến con người - động vật cao nhất trong chuỗi mắt xích thức ăn - trong một tương lai khi loài cá biến mất.

4* vì biên tập còn lỗi chính tả, đánh máy lặp từ nhiều quá thể =.=

[Thai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad truth about fishing and interesting. Wish I knew more about this when I was a kid.

[Amber Eide Wiese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how the book was written. Different styles to help young readers and myself get a story within a story. Simple explanations that made me think!

[Madison Markiewicz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so boring and uses long words and references too many times for absolutely no reason. I had to read this for school 🥲. It was so bad even my teacher wanted to be done with this unit.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for anyone to read, not just teenagers. I found it strange that they didn't think people needed to stop eating fish, that it was better to just shop for sustainably caught fish.

[Johnny]

I read this book for school a long time ago. The main thing I remember is being attracted to the girl (Ailat?), so obviously I took the right message away. *sigh* Good times.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

WICKED COOL.

You always hear about the climate change impacts of fisheries but nobody else, that I've seen, has actually bothered to flesh out the process of oceanic decay, step by step. I AM IN AWE, and I can't believe this isn't more widely known!
There are a few things I would change about the presentation style and tone, particularly since this seems to be geared toward younger audiences, but at the same time, I appreciate that Kurlansky did not in *any* way whatsoever talk down to his audience. We're all peers to Kurlansky! NICE.

(4.25 stars on storygraph)

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

You’ve heard, haven’t you, that the world will be without salt-water fish by the year 2050. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Start believing, this book calmly, and very nerdily, walks you through exactly how it will happen. Or, you might ask yourself, ‘how could we let this happen?’

World Without Fish, by former commercial fisherman Mark Kurlansky, is a lovingly-illustrated book for ages nine and up. The drawings inside were done by Frank Stockton. The book is only 170 pages and it reads like a graphic novel, quickly and easily.

Kurlansky starts by giving a brief outline of the problem. The first thing likely to make fish go extinct is overfishing. Technology has made it impossible for fish to hide from the modern fisherman.

Whereas before, sailors used sails (even right up to the 1950s), now the modern fisherman has electric motors, beam trawls and giant funnel nets that have 14,000 times the capacity to pull up fish that old sailing fleets had. With the invention of plastic monofilament for netting, and bouncy ‘rock hoppers,’ fisherman can drag their nets right along the bottom of the ocean floor giving fish no place to hide, not even between rocks, because the rubber rollers would hop right over rocks and scrape the bottom more closely.

So tightly regulating fishing is an important step. Still, even doing that, the fish are disappearing. Water pollution is the next culprit. Damage in the ecosystem from oil spills has been recorded decades after the spill. It gives fish and shellfish abnormal characteristics, such as the inability to reproduce. When crabs try to burrow into sand, they hit a layer of oil and have to go sideways instead. Remember that BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? That was equivalent to an oil tanker disaster every single day for three months. Farmers also contribute to the dead patches of ocean that are forming in places like the Gulf of Mexico, when their farm pesticides and chemicals reach open waters via rivers like the Mississippi, and then down to the Gulf.

The third thing that could make fish go extinct is global warming. Kurlansky says that folks think that because land is so fecund in warm, tropical areas that people believe oceans would be too. But it is the opposite. Fish love cold seas. Specific temperatures signal to fish it is time to reproduce. With the fast-changing warming of the planet, fish don’t get that signal. Fish need not only a specific temperature, but also a specific degree of saltiness. As ice melts in the Arctic, it changes the saltiness of the water.

Kurlansky believes that humans are more in touch with protecting mammals, which are more like ourselves, than a different kind of animal, like fish. Alas, If fish go extinct, sea birds will shortly follow.

Kurlansky has some ideas for the reader of how we can stop or slow down this process. I’ll let you read the book to get his list.

If you don’t think of this as an emergency, it’s a good thing I have this book school library collections, isn’t it? Kurlansky says today's students are the most important generation of humans ever. Survival of humanity will be up to the kids in schools today as their adults aren’t treating these issues AS an emergency.

Upon reflection, this book makes me shudder to think of how public school library funding worldwide isn’t coming close to stocking titles that can educate the next generation about the challenges our species, and other species will face.

[Thi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quyển này mình đọc chỉ trong 2 ngày, một điều không thường xảy ra khi mình đọc non-fic. Phải nói là từng thông tin một trong sách đều vô cùng mới mẻ và cuốn hút. Bản thân tác giả đã từng là ngư dân nên ông hiểu rất rõ về nghề đánh bắt cá, tình trạng đánh bắt cá trái phép/ vượt mức quy định cũng như sự ô nhiễm đại dương đã và đang giết chết loài cá như thế nào. Những vấn đề tác giả đề cập đến trong sách dựa vào quan sát, nghiên cứu của chính bản thân, số liệu thông kê quốc tế cũng như dựa trên học thuyết Darwin. Sách cũng đi theo trình tự thời gian, kể chuyện đánh bắt cá lúc máy móc công nghệ còn chưa phát triển, cho đến khi người ta chế tạo ra các loại tàu đánh cá, lưới bắt cá hiện đại là mối đe dọa cho sự tồn tại của những loài sinh vật dưới đáy đại dương. Nhiều loài cá đã hoàn toàn biến mất, và cũng có những loại còn rất ít cá thể, hoặc thậm chí mất chức năng sinh sản do tác động của con người. Nếu là một người có quan tâm đến môi trường, động vật hay nghề đánh bắt cá thì hoàn toàn nên đọc quyển này.
Về phần hình thức, sách xứng đáng được ngàn sao luôn vì bìa siêu đẹp, các trang sách được in màu bắt mắt. Mình cũng thích cách tác giả in đậm hoặc phóng to chữ, cách dòng ở những đoạn có ý nghĩa quan trọng nhằm nhấn mạnh cho người đọc biết. Sau mỗi chương thường sẽ có một mẩu truyện tranh ngắn để kiểu ôn lại cho độc giả những kiến thức trong chương ấy. Vậy nên mình nghĩ sách này còn phù hợp với cả trẻ em nữa.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many things about this book that I loved, some things that were just okay, and a few errors which undermine the believability of the book as whole. There are a ton of interesting facts, information, history and statistics. For example, "it takes four pounds of ground up wild fish to grow one pound of farmed fish" on page 89. Kurlansky also worded things in ways I hadn't heard before and which made me stop and ponder, an example: "a vegetarian is a human who rejects killing living things from his own kingdom- animals - but accepts killing from the other kingdom - plants" from page XV. It was the errors that were the biggest disappointment. Kurlansky states on page 41 that photosynthesis produces carbon dioxide. It doesn't! Photosynthesis uses light and carbon dioxide to produce sugars and oxygen. This is a pretty basic principal that I can't believe no one caught before the book went to print. That said, I still liked it and think it would foster great discussions with kids.

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I largely agree with the most liked comment, the illustrations tend to take away rather than add. Also not really enough illustration to be considered a graphic novel. Ok written content, I learned a bit but the book is more aimed at this with little knowledge on the subject. It would be best in the hands of an adolescent, contains some basic info on mainstream activism as well. I've read "Salt" and "Basque History" before, this made me want to check out "Cod."

[Wendelle]

terrifying and alarming book. first half presents what happens in a world where top fish populations are in severe decline due to overfishing, pollution and climate change. then jellyfish, plankton and algal blooms dominate the seas and upend careful ecological balances. second half presents what fishermen and scientists have learned and tried to do about the situation. wish we could do standardized sacrifices and lifestyle changes for our planet.

[Suzanne Dix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this right at the tail end of my summer by the ocean...boy, was I depressed. The writing is excellent and middle school kids will hopefully embrace the activist role Kurlansky is counting on.

Grades 7 and up. A very readable nonfiction title.

[Kasey Farren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students and I read this book for our environmental studies unit, but I'm counting it towards my reading goal because honestly, I probably read this thing four or five times while creating lesson plans.

[Weston Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of information.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurlansky, who has done a number of interesting nonfiction books like Frozen in Time: Clarence Birdseye's Outrageous Idea About Frozen Food (2014) and Sugar Changed the World (2017) posits this idea: most fish could be gone in fifty years, and with the fish, seabirds, mammals, and basically everything else could follow! To underline the seriousness of this argument, chapter headings and critical details are rendered in very large, capitalized red font. There is some discussion about Darwin’s theories, and how they play into this destruction, as well as chapters about overfishing, climate change, and lack of biodiversity. There’s a good overview of the fishing industry, including some deeper dives into topics like the orange roughy, which went from being unheard of to being endangered in a very short period of time.

Along with the text, there are plentiful sidebars explaining some topics, from leatherback sea turtles to the Atlantic herring to The Illustrated London News! I love that Kurlansky knew that some of these topics would need additional explanation to young readers. There are some maps and illustrations to support the text as well.

Between chapters, there is also a one page comic style story about a scientist, Kram, and his daughter, Ailat, as they investigate the fate of the fish and ocean over their lifetimes. It wasn’t until I read the dedication at the back that I realized these characters were based on the author and his daughter Talia.

The picture painted about the fate of fish is bleak, but there are some possible solutions that are offered, including limiting catches, closing off areas, and ecosystem-based management. It’s clear that sustainable fishing practices need to be implemented world wide, and that global warming and pollution are both enormous problems. Considering that this book was originally published in 2011, I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t an updated version. Perhaps I missed something, and the 2024 paperback version that I read has changes of which I am not aware.

I was glad to see that while no one should eat shark or bluefin tuna (because of the environmental impact), regular canned tuna is okay, although sardines are a fish that could use more consumers. There are good end notes about actions that young readers can take, including walking more instead of driving, and cutting down on plastic consumption. There is also a list of organizations that can help with various problems, as well as notes on how to start participating in climate activism.