H. Bruce Franklin 

"How is it possible that a sizeable fish vital to the oceanic food chain and intertwined for three centuries with the cultural histories of both natives and settlers could nevertheless completely escape the notice of most Americans and within a few short years be driven to the brink of extinction for no valid reason whatever?  This well researched and vigorously written book--certain to be of wide interest to academic and general readers alike--will tell you why."
    --Lawrence Buell, Harvard University, author of The Environmental Imagination and Writing for an Endangered World

"By 1880 there were almost three times more menhaden ships than whaling ships, but since then only three authors have written books about menhaden, and only Bruce Franklin has told the real story.  The Most Important Fish in the Sea is a valuable history, a desperately needed warning and a terrific read--a must for every advocate of marine ecosystems."

 

--Ted Williams,

Conservation Editor, FlyRod&Reel magazine

Editor-at-Large, Audubon

"This story of menhaden should be taught in every classroom of every school in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  The fundamentals of marine biology and how an ecosystem fits into nature's design, using menhaden as an example, enhances a deeper understanding of man's place on the landscape of time."

--Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD)