Salmon: A Scientific Memoir

Salmon: A Scientific Memoir investigates a narrative that is important to the identity of the Pacific Northwest Coast--the salmon as an iconic species. Traditionally it's been a narrative that is overwhelmingly about conflict. But is that always necessarily the case?The story follows John Steinbeck's advice: the best way to achieve reality is to combine narrative with scientific data. By following ecologists, archaeologists and fisheries biologists studying salmon, humans and their shared habitat, the reader learns about the fish through the eyes of scientists in the field.Each chapter focuses on a portion of the salmon's journey to and from their natal streams; on one of the five Pacific salmon species most commercially important to North Americans; and on the different ways scientists study the fish. It's also about the scientific journey of ecologists, archaeologists and fisheries biologists and how the labs gathering data today echo coastal indigenous people who have harvested salmon successfully since the end of the last ice age. Each group established a reciprocal economic system, one that revolves around community and knowledge, a system with straightforward rules, sometimes as simple as "you get what you give."

Author: Jude Isabella
Publisher: Rmb - Rocky Mountain Books
Published: 11/14/2014
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.48lbs
Size: 6.90h x 4.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781771600453

About the Author
Isabella, Jude: - Jude Isabella has been a journalist for over 20 years, focusing on science, health and the environment. She writes for a diverse audience, from grownups interested in archaeology to young readers interested in space. Jude has written five science books for kids, including Fantastic Feats and Failure, which won the prestigious American Institute of Physics Award. She spent three years researching salmon and marine biodiversity on Canada's west coast for her master of arts degree in anthropology and writing, resulting in this book. After a dozen or so field trips, she can remove otoliths from juvenile salmon and clean her face in the bush without soap. One of her goals as a science writer is to educate readers that to be human does not mean being hardwired to destroy the environment. There is hope! Jude lives in Victoria, British Columbia.