The Fish, a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, demonstrates her ecological knowledge, which leads her to embrace a cohabitation connection between humans and nonhumans. This ecological knowledge is mirrored in the poem when she lets the fish go free. It is one of her most well-known and characteristic poems. In the first line, we are told that the fish were caught in "a net on the beach". The word "fish" here refers to both species of fish and also to the creatures caught in the net. This shows that Bishop was very aware of the difference between human beings and animals, even though she was not a distinguished scientist like Darwin or Linnaeus. She simply observed nature around her and wrote about what she saw. Bishop was a native of Canada who grew up there with dreams of becoming a poet. She began writing poetry at the age of twenty-one and soon became known for her distinctive style which combined sensuality with thoughtfulness and intellectual rigor. She traveled widely during her life and lived in many different countries including England, France, Germany, and America. She died in America at the age of forty-two after suffering from tuberculosis. Within the context of her time and place, Bishop was extremely active with regard to environmental issues. In fact, she went beyond what most people did at that time by advocating for conservation throughout her whole life.