American Catch

The Fight for Our Local Seafood

By: Paul Greenberg

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Best-selling author of Four Fish Paul Greenberg looks to New York oysters, gulf shrimp, and Alaskan salmon to tell the surprising story of why Americans no longer eat from local waters.

In 2005, the United States imported 12 billion dollars' worth of seafood, nearly double what we had imported ten years earlier. During that same period, our seafood exports rose by a third. In American Catch, our foremost fish expert Paul Greenberg looks to New York oysters, gulf shrimp, and Alaskan salmon to reveal how it came to be that 91 percent of the seafood Americans eat is foreign.

As recently as 1928 the average New Yorker ate 600 local oysters a year. Today, the only edible oysters lie outside city limits. Looking at the trail of environmental desecration, Greenberg comes to view the New York City oyster as a reminder of what is lost when local waters are not valued as a food source. To understand the complications of our current moment, Greenberg visits the Gulf of Mexico. He arrives expecting to learn of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill's lingering effects on shrimpers, but instead finds that the more immediate threat to business comes from overseas. Asian farmed shrimp - cheap, abundant, and a perfect vehicle for the frying and sauces Americans love - have flooded the American market.

Despite the challenges, hope abounds. In New York, Greenberg connects with an oyster restoration project with a vision for how the bivalves might save the city from rising tides; in the gulf, shrimpers band together to offer local catch direct to consumers. And in Bristol Bay, fishermen, environmentalists, and local Alaskans gather to roadblock Pebble Mine. In American Catch Paul Greenberg proposes there is a way to break the current destructive patterns of consumption and return the American catch back to American consumers.

©2014 Paul Greenberg (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House Company.

Really interesting read even for a non-fisherman

I now know a lot more about the American seafood industry. I'll kill at parties!

Excellent personal view and excellent facts

Would you listen to American Catch again? Why?

I have listened to this more than once and bought the book. It talked about some items I already knew and then expanded from there. There was much I really didn't realize.

What was one of the most memorable moments of American Catch?

The realization that Americans eat so much farmed fish from outside the country was surprising. And the fact that people tend to prefer farmed fish to wild caught was also surprising. The warmth of the authors love for fishing and fishermen was heart warming.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Lane – was your favorite?

The narrator is perhaps my favorite. I believe the character from the bayou of Louisianna was my favorite although a very small part.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I had no extreme reaction save to be more attentive to where my seafood comes from. While I already look closely at the label, I will surely scrutinize it even more carefully.

Any additional comments?

I applaud the authors efforts to bring to light the hopefullness of our country to bring back our shellfish and keep the fish we do have here at home.

I don’t write reviews usually

Love this book so much, I wish that everyone would read it. It reminded me of why I went to school and to get back into the community.

I want more

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would only recommend this book if the person was into food, or the environment. I'm not sure if others outside that demographic would find it interesting.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book can easily be broken up into 3 two hour listening sessions. He focuses on three sea creatures and you can pause in between each creature.

Any additional comments?

This book is a quick fascinating look at how our environment has demolished one shellfish environment, badly damaged anothers, and one of our last protected fisheries and how it's threatened. This book makes me look at where my seafood is coming from. It also inspired me to buy as much seafood that is caught here in the USA. Cheapness isn't everything! Where it comes from is more important.

And important review of fish in our food

This book gives a incredible history of how we came to our current state of fishing and eating fish. It shows why our fisheries are less valuable and more important than we think. And maybe tells the way out of this. I really loved it!

Interesting, but some fact-checking is in order

An interesting book, follows the rise and collapse of the NY oyster fishery and the disturbing trend whereby many of our marine resources are exported to countries abroad while the US comes to rely more and more on imported seafood. While the first few stories appear to be factually accurate, the latter ones seem to rely more on the author's opinion.