Billion-Dollar Fish: The Untold Story of Alaska Pollock

Bailey (founding director, Man & Sea Inst.) is a veteran fisheries biologist. Here he covers the ecology, economics, international politics, history, and future of pollock and pollock fishing in the Bering Sea. This is the fish whose flesh is unknowingly consumed daily in fast-food fish sandwiches, frozen fish meals, and sushi "crab sticks." In fact, every part of the pollock is used except the skin. Due to its schooling behavior, pollock are easily found and caught. Are they overfished? There is a "donut hole" in the international waters of the North Pacific where the supply used to seem unlimited but now is nearly exhausted. Interwoven throughout Bailey's book are personal stories gleaned from interviews with fishermen, environmentalists, legal representatives, etc. to make for balanced, coverage. Bailey does a very good job of explaining the changes in opinion from the scientific approach that "anything beyond what is needed to reproduce is wasted" to assessing pollock populations for "economic sustainability."