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Giant Bluefin
This elegantly written and compelling work portrays the way the Japanese demand for giant bluefin tuna has altered the lives of Cape Cod fishermen.
In telling the story of one man's passionate hunt for giant bluefin, Douglas Whynott's Giant Bluefin details the competition and camaraderie in the bluefin fishery, the pressures of a conservationist movement seeking to limit the bluefin harvest, and the struggle of the fisherman himself against "the wild horses of [the] fish species."
In telling the story of one man's passionate hunt for giant bluefin, Douglas Whynott's Giant Bluefin details the competition and camaraderie in the bluefin fishery, the pressures of a conservationist movement seeking to limit the bluefin harvest, and the struggle of the fisherman himself against "the wild horses of [the] fish species."
242 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 11, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it surprisingly engrossing. It introduced me to a whole other world, the world of commercial fishing, one I knew little about, a world filled with rivalries, friendships, a long history, a world I think most Americans don't appreciate. Though focusing primarily on the harpoon fishery of the giant bluefin tuna or "jumbo bluefin" (known by the scientific name of _Thunnus thynnus_) of New England waters, the author Douglas Whynott discusses fishermen who use other methods (such as trolling or using a purse seine) as well as problems that the fishing industry and that individual fishermen face in general as well as some topics in marine biology.
The giant bluefin fishery is a lucrative market, with individual fish often worth $40 or more a pound (when fat after having feed all season on local prey fish), some fish bringing in at market prices as high as $50,000 per fish (though often much lower than that). The highest prices are obtained in Japan, where red tuna meat (maguro) is highly prized. Individual fish are packed in ice and air-lifted over to Japan, each specimen analyzed there at market in a method not unlike a raw diamond is regarded by professional jewelers so that the best cuts could be made, all so Japanese restaurant goers can pay upwards of $75 for a single serving of raw fish.
Whynott relates how the bluefin tuna fishery has come a long way; the bluefin was once called the "horse mackerel" and worth a mere five cents a pound, generally being served as cat food. In fact in the early 20th century they were even thought to be poisonous and were primarily caught so that the fish could be boiled to produce lamp oil. Fishermen who specialized in bluefin have often had to get other jobs when the fishing season was over, whether fishing for cod or other fish, shrimping, harvesting mussels, or even working non-fishing jobs, something that has been slowly changing as the market for bluefin has become more lucrative though not still quite prevalent.
The fish obtained for the sushi market are provided by the harpoon fishery of New England, an industry that while using spotter planes to locate schools, sophisticated devices to measure water temperature, and a knowledge of esoteric regulations in international committees and national organizations that govern quota size for each season's catches (regulations that are often the subject of intense debate, a topic well-covered in the book), Japanese market preferences (to properly grade fish often takes year of experience, as each fish taken to market is graded on freshness, color, fat, and shape), and even currency fluctuations (as upward or downward exchange rates of the yen versus the dollar can mean large differences in prices received), still relies on a single man hand-throwing a bronze-headed harpoon at a fast moving fish (albeit a harpoon rigged so that a powerful 800-volt electric shock can be delivered to the animal). No other method will do, as purse seining damages the fish and no other method can reliable catch the giant bluefins that the Japanese so highly prize. The harpooners operate from boats that are often called "stick boats," constructed with long pulpits built off the bow and out over the water, the pulpit sometimes more than 25 feet in length (designed so that they could be cranked up while in harbor), a stand at the end of which is where the fishermen hurls his 12 foot harpoon.
What made this book so interesting in part was the portrayal of individual fishermen, the author following their trials and tribulations over several seasons. Whynott focused mainly on two fishermen - Bob Sampson, captain of the _Scratcher_ and his son Brad Sampson - and a spotter pilot, Fred Brooks or "Brooksie," going out with them in all manner of weather, relating their hopes and aspirations and the many problems that they have faced. It was not hard not to root for them after a while.
The tuna themselves are of course well-covered in the book, a fish species that arrives every year to the Gulf of Maine to fatten on the locally abundant schools of mackerel, sand eels, and herring, a rich feeding ground that attracts all manner of marine life including several species of sharks, whales, and porpoises, throughout the summer increasing their body weight by more than 7.5 percent per month. The bluefin is a fascinating animal, the largest of the finfish (up to ten feet in length and a thousand pounds in weight), among the fastest (which can swim in 50 mile an hour bursts, able to beat their tail fins at frequencies of thirty cycles per second, providing 90 percent of their locomotive power), and one of the most migratory of all animals (with some tagged individuals known to have made 8,000 mile round trips feeding and spawning forays through the Atlantic). Bluefins have a very sophisticated physiology, having large blood volumes and the highest proportion of oxygen among fishes, concentrations of hemoglobin as high as that of humans, their gill surface area the highest of any fish species, producing what is the metabolically active of all fish species; an animal that is "warm-blooded" or endothermic, able to maintain body temperatures of between 77 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit while swimming in waters between 45 and 86 degrees from Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean to Norway. The bluefin is truly one of the ocean's top predators, essentially a tropical fish that has evolved to take advantage of underutilized food resources in subpolar waters.
An absolutely excellent book, one I would highly recommend.
The giant bluefin fishery is a lucrative market, with individual fish often worth $40 or more a pound (when fat after having feed all season on local prey fish), some fish bringing in at market prices as high as $50,000 per fish (though often much lower than that). The highest prices are obtained in Japan, where red tuna meat (maguro) is highly prized. Individual fish are packed in ice and air-lifted over to Japan, each specimen analyzed there at market in a method not unlike a raw diamond is regarded by professional jewelers so that the best cuts could be made, all so Japanese restaurant goers can pay upwards of $75 for a single serving of raw fish.
Whynott relates how the bluefin tuna fishery has come a long way; the bluefin was once called the "horse mackerel" and worth a mere five cents a pound, generally being served as cat food. In fact in the early 20th century they were even thought to be poisonous and were primarily caught so that the fish could be boiled to produce lamp oil. Fishermen who specialized in bluefin have often had to get other jobs when the fishing season was over, whether fishing for cod or other fish, shrimping, harvesting mussels, or even working non-fishing jobs, something that has been slowly changing as the market for bluefin has become more lucrative though not still quite prevalent.
The fish obtained for the sushi market are provided by the harpoon fishery of New England, an industry that while using spotter planes to locate schools, sophisticated devices to measure water temperature, and a knowledge of esoteric regulations in international committees and national organizations that govern quota size for each season's catches (regulations that are often the subject of intense debate, a topic well-covered in the book), Japanese market preferences (to properly grade fish often takes year of experience, as each fish taken to market is graded on freshness, color, fat, and shape), and even currency fluctuations (as upward or downward exchange rates of the yen versus the dollar can mean large differences in prices received), still relies on a single man hand-throwing a bronze-headed harpoon at a fast moving fish (albeit a harpoon rigged so that a powerful 800-volt electric shock can be delivered to the animal). No other method will do, as purse seining damages the fish and no other method can reliable catch the giant bluefins that the Japanese so highly prize. The harpooners operate from boats that are often called "stick boats," constructed with long pulpits built off the bow and out over the water, the pulpit sometimes more than 25 feet in length (designed so that they could be cranked up while in harbor), a stand at the end of which is where the fishermen hurls his 12 foot harpoon.
What made this book so interesting in part was the portrayal of individual fishermen, the author following their trials and tribulations over several seasons. Whynott focused mainly on two fishermen - Bob Sampson, captain of the _Scratcher_ and his son Brad Sampson - and a spotter pilot, Fred Brooks or "Brooksie," going out with them in all manner of weather, relating their hopes and aspirations and the many problems that they have faced. It was not hard not to root for them after a while.
The tuna themselves are of course well-covered in the book, a fish species that arrives every year to the Gulf of Maine to fatten on the locally abundant schools of mackerel, sand eels, and herring, a rich feeding ground that attracts all manner of marine life including several species of sharks, whales, and porpoises, throughout the summer increasing their body weight by more than 7.5 percent per month. The bluefin is a fascinating animal, the largest of the finfish (up to ten feet in length and a thousand pounds in weight), among the fastest (which can swim in 50 mile an hour bursts, able to beat their tail fins at frequencies of thirty cycles per second, providing 90 percent of their locomotive power), and one of the most migratory of all animals (with some tagged individuals known to have made 8,000 mile round trips feeding and spawning forays through the Atlantic). Bluefins have a very sophisticated physiology, having large blood volumes and the highest proportion of oxygen among fishes, concentrations of hemoglobin as high as that of humans, their gill surface area the highest of any fish species, producing what is the metabolically active of all fish species; an animal that is "warm-blooded" or endothermic, able to maintain body temperatures of between 77 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit while swimming in waters between 45 and 86 degrees from Brazil to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean to Norway. The bluefin is truly one of the ocean's top predators, essentially a tropical fish that has evolved to take advantage of underutilized food resources in subpolar waters.
An absolutely excellent book, one I would highly recommend.
June 29, 2019
I thought this was a great book to learn about the bluefin and the fishng for them. It is crazy the amount of money these fish go for. These fish hav incredible power I believeit states in here that if you tied a bluefin to a marlin tail to tail the blufin would win. great book give it a try.
July 10, 2015
I enjoyed Douglas Whynott's "The Sugar Season" and was drawn to this earlier book about Bluefin tuna because of my time spent in New England - most summers for the past 30 years.
For example, last year my family watched fishermen unload a 960 pound Bluefin at the Wentworth Marina in New Hampshire with a truck from "Maguro America" waiting to pack it and ship it off to Japan. I also know the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo well where this fish would have ended up in the morning auction - fetching tens of thousand of dollars. So the subject matter was interesting.
While the book was informative - especially about the growth and physiology of these fish, their migration patterns, and the use of spotter planes in catching these amazing fish - if was a bit shallow (if you pardon the pun). There was some detail on the fishermen and their struggles. But overall I found it a bit flat and more of a chronicle of the author's time than a cohesive story.
I wasn't looking for another "Perfect storm" but I felt the fishermen's stories probably could setup a more entertaining write and read.
For example, last year my family watched fishermen unload a 960 pound Bluefin at the Wentworth Marina in New Hampshire with a truck from "Maguro America" waiting to pack it and ship it off to Japan. I also know the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo well where this fish would have ended up in the morning auction - fetching tens of thousand of dollars. So the subject matter was interesting.
While the book was informative - especially about the growth and physiology of these fish, their migration patterns, and the use of spotter planes in catching these amazing fish - if was a bit shallow (if you pardon the pun). There was some detail on the fishermen and their struggles. But overall I found it a bit flat and more of a chronicle of the author's time than a cohesive story.
I wasn't looking for another "Perfect storm" but I felt the fishermen's stories probably could setup a more entertaining write and read.
September 22, 2016
The history and fortunes of the Bluefin Tuna. Talks about everything from the genealogy and biology of the noble fish to the latest techniques for destroying them. Much is made of the Japanese craze for Tuna sushi and the unethical use of spotter planes.
February 16, 2013
Epic.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews