Get an insider's look at the massive threats facing West Coast small-boat fishermen in Nancy Danielson Mendenhall's fascinating new book, Rough Waters. Sweeping ecological changes, weak management, and pushback from industrial fishing are all conspiring to gradually undermine the ability of small-scale commercial fishermen to make a living. As a result, fishing families and towns—and those businesses that rely on them—are struggling to stay afloat. Mendenhall delves into the root causes and effects of the industry's problems through stories, photos, in-depth interviews with those most affected, and analysis from biologists and social researchers. The book presents the issue in two parts, first analyzing the state-managed fisheries on the West Coast and then looking at federally managed fisheries. Mendenhall goes on to compare the industry in the United States with those in other parts of the world and then examines the destruction wrought by the new strategy of "catch share" management. As more national environmental groups take interest in the plight of small-boat fishermen, hope that the industry can be saved has been rekindled. But as Rough Waters reveals, the battle to preserve this unique livelihood won't stop any time soon.

Rough Waters: Our North Pacific Small Fishermen's Battle : A Fishing Family's Perspective

History

Mendenhall, Nancy Danielson

Americas

Far Eastern Press

Flight of the Goose is an award-winning novel from Arctic Alaska about an indigenous woman shaman, a draft-dodging bird scientist, and a young Inupiaq hunter caught between traditions. Their tale, woven from threads of psychological thriller, star-crossed love story, eco-fiction, science and the metaphysical, is set in a remote village and the wilds of the Alaskan Arctic in a time of great cultural and ecological upheaval. 
“The story took my breath away. I wept my way through it, identifying profoundly with both protagonists. (Thomas) has a fine grasp of the complexity of human relations and culture in such a village. She also writes beautifully. A remarkable book altogether.”
~Jean L. Briggs,Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, Memorial University of Newfoundland and author of Never in Anger
“Memorable...One of the best novels of Alaska that I have read. With the author’s unerring knowledge of anthropology and social and environmental issues, it could fit any rural Alaskan village.”
 ~ Dorothy Jean Ray, author of A Legacy of Arctic Art, and The Eskimos of Bering Strait 1650-1898
1971, the Alaskan Arctic. "It was a time when much was hidden, before outsiders came on bended knee to learn from the elders. Outsiders came, but it was not to learn from us; it was to change us. There was a war and a university, an oil company and a small village, all run by men. There was a young man who hunted geese to feed his family and another who studied geese to save them. And there was a young woman who flew into the world of spirits to save herself..."
So relates Kayuqtuq Ugungoraseok, "the red fox". An orphan traumatized by her past, she seeks respect in her traditional Inupiat village through the outlawed path of shamanism. Her plan leads to tragedy when she interferes with scientist Leif Trygvesen, who has come to research the effects of oil spills on salt marshes - and evade the draft. 
Told from both Kayuqtuq's and Leif's perspectives, Flight of the Gooseis a tale of cultural conflict, spiritual awakening, redemption and love in a time when things were - to use the phrase of an old arctic shaman - "no longer familiar".
Flight of the Goose is recommended in Cultural Survival Quarterly, Shaman's Drum Journal, First Alaskans Magazine, Tundra Drums, Seattle Post Intelligencer and Sacred Hoop Magazine. 
It has been studied at North Slope School District, University of Washington, University of Alaska, Boston University, Sterling College, by Sandra Ingerman at Medicine for the Earth - and is read by book clubs worldwide.
Flight of the Goose won first place in several literary contests. See more at www.flightofthegoose.strikingly.com

Flight of the Goose: a Story of the Far North

Literature & Fiction

Thomas, Lesley

Dramas & Plays

America's early 1900's dream of greening the western desert through irrigation drew hundreds of would-be farmers to the Columbia River hamlet of White Bluffs in Washington State. Yearning for a healthy, possibly lucrative life in the wild desert setting, they struggled with nature, railroads, power companies, commission houses, water systems and the ever-disappointing market. Through oral histories, letters, photographs and meticulous research, author Nancy Mendenhall tells the story of how, despite all the adversities, the orchardists built a remarkable, thriving community until it was cut short by events of World War Two. At times reading like an epic novel, this rich social history shows in detail the hard roles of pioneer women, children and their men, and delves deeply into their emotional and intellectual lives.

Orchards of Eden: White Bluffs on the Columbia 1907-1943

Biographies & Memoirs

Mendenhall, Nancy

Regional U.S.

Storytellers at the Columbia River

United States

"Rough Waters: Alaska to Oregon, Small Fishermen's Battle" is for the great numbers of people drawn to fish, fishing, fishermen and their communities. But beyond those always engaging topics is the worry today over our fisheries' sustainability. The warming of our oceans, the politics and management issues are part of the growing public concern. For coastal people, especially, and river lovers too, the changes can't be ignored. Fishermen of the small-boat fleets (salmon, crab, halibut and cod, through nets, pots, troll and longlines are the ones particularly covered here) are the canaries in our giant watery coal mines. And they are always in competition with the industrial fleets and their lobbyists.The communities of the small-boat fleets are also at risk. Especially the youth are floundering--the ones who had planned to take over their folks' beloved livelihood. The transfer of permits and licenses to owners who never fish is evidence. The plight of specific fishing families described here will be familiar to those who come from a small-farming background."Rough Waters" presents all this graphically through a blend of on-the-dock interviews, the author's personal experience, historical photos and extensive research. It reveals the threats to a livelihood that for generations has been a huge part of the Northwest Coast mystique.

Rough Waters: Alaska to Oregon: Small Fishermen's Battle

Business & Money

Industries

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