The Great Gulf: Fishermen, Scientists, and the Struggle to Revive the World's Greatest Fishery
New England's cod fishery has always ranked among the world's richest -- until the late 1980s, when catches plummeted because of overfishing. Even today, with fishing sharply restricted, the fish struggle to recover.Largely overlooked in this disaster is the puzzle at its heart: a strange, virulent disagreement between government scientists and fishermen over how many fish are in the sea, and therefore over how many should be caught.In "The Great Gulf," David Dobbs takes us on a series of voyages over the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, vividly depicting the challenges facing John Galbraith, Linda Despres, and Jay Burnett, scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service working to determine how many fish there really are, and Dave Goethel, a whipsmart, science-savvy fisherman who struggles to maintain his livelihood amid increasing regulation. As these people strive to come to a common understanding of this dynamic environment, their efforts raise fascinating questions about what it means to see the world clearly.For anyone who has read "Cod" or "The Perfect Storm," "The Great Gulf" offers the next chapter of the story -- how today's fishermen and fisheries scientists are grappling with the collapse of this fishery and trying to chart, amid uncertain waters, a course toward its restoration.