From Publishers Weekly
In the 1980s, the lobster population in the waters off the coast of Maine was declining, threatening disaster for the state's lobster fishing industry. Government scientists attributed the drop-off to overfishing and recommended raising the minimum legal size of lobsters that could be harvested. Lobstermen disagreed, contending that their longstanding practice of returning oversized lobsters to the sea as brood stock would take care of the problem. In this intriguing and entertaining book, Corson, a journalist who has reported on such diverse subjects as organ transplants and Chinese sweatshops, brings together the often conflicting worlds of commercial lobstermen and marine scientists, showing how the two sides joined forces and tried for 15 years to solve the mystery of why the lobsters were disappearing. He brings the story to life by concentrating on the lobstermen and their families who live in one Maine fishing community, Little Cranberry Island, and alternating narratives of their lives with accounts of the research of scientists who, obsessed with the curious life of lobsters, conduct experiments that are often as strange and complex as the lobsters themselves. Corson provides more information about the lobster's unusual anatomy, eating habits and sex life than most readers will probably want to know, but he makes it all fascinating, especially when he juxtaposes observations of human behavior and descriptions of the social life of lobsters. However, by the end of the book, the answer to the puzzle remains elusive. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Some like their lobster dipped in drawn butter; others prefer their lobster laced with electronic monitors. Plunging into its cold North Atlantic home, a prizewinning alternative-press writer sheds the light of investigative journalism on a crustacean attracting as much attention in recent years from curious biologists as from hungry diners. As deftly as a lobsterman handling the coiled ropes of his trap buoys, Corson knots into a single brisk narrative the differing--often conflicting--perspectives of the fishermen who catch and sell lobsters, the marine scientists who track and explain the creatures, and the environmentalists who lobby for increased legal protections for the species. The narrative focuses particularly on the growing tensions between Maine fishermen, who harvested record numbers of lobsters in the nineties, and federal officials interpreting disputed demographic data as evidence of overfishing. The story of how these tensions intensify will teach readers a great deal about a species that deploys more than mere claws when it wages war over profits and seafood. A lively yet conceptually sophisticated work. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Time Out New York
"Ultimately, this investigation into society, science and sustainability leaves a complex, satisfying taste in your mouth"
Kirkus Reviews
"Charmingly written, full of fascinating detail: a delight."
Natural History magazine
"I can highly recommend this book as one of the best things you can enjoy without melted butter."
Book Description
In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the reader onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters.
In revelations from the laboratory and the sea that are by turns astonishing and humorous, the lobster proves itself to be not only a delicious meal and a sustainable resource but also an amorous master of the boudoir, a lethal boxer, and a snoopy socializer with a nose that lets it track prey and paramour alike with the skill of a bloodhound.
The Secret Life of Lobsters is a rollicking oceanic odyssey punctuated by salt spray, melted butter, and predators lurking in the murky depths.
About the Author
Trevor Corson worked aboard commercial lobster boats for two years and has written on subjects as diverse as organ transplants, Japanese Buddhism, and Chinese politics. His writing has appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers
Until now, the only thought our Discover readers had given to this species was how to get them to the pot of boiling water while avoiding their snapping pincers and flapping tails. With his first book, Trevor Corson has changed all that. For Corson has composed an elegant and intriguing work comprising three essential ingredients: natural history, biological research, and a loving portrait of a community.
Corson, who spent two years working aboard a commercial lobster boat, also trolls alongside scientists who study the valuable crustaceans, offering intimate depictions of their work. And he introduces readers to generations of lobstermen and their families on Little Cranberry Island, a tiny fishing community off the coast of Maine. The end result of his assiduous detective work is this remarkable account of the delicate balance between these players and their role in ensuring the responsible stewardship of the lobster population as well as the survival of a storied industry. Along the way, Corson reveals lobsters as tremendously complex and interesting creatures: gentle, and at times, amorous lovers, as well as pugnacious and lethal bullies who regularly compete for dominance beneath the ocean's surface. Corson's passion for creatures we most often see accompanied by drawn butter is evident on every page of this wonderfully irresistible book. Bib not included. (Fall 2004 Selection)
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this intimate portrait of an island lobstering community and an eccentric band of renegade biologists, journalist Trevor Corson escorts the reader onto the slippery decks of fishing boats, through danger-filled scuba dives, and deep into the churning currents of the Gulf of Maine to learn about the secret undersea lives of lobsters. In revelations from the laboratory and the sea that are by turns astonishing and humorous, the lobster proves itself to be not only a delicious meal and a sustainable resource but also an amorous master of the boudoir, a lethal boxer, and a snoopy socializer with a nose that lets it track prey and paramour alike with the skill of a bloodhound. The Secret Life of Lobsters is a rollicking oceanic odyssey punctuated by salt spray, melted butter, and predators lurking in the murky depths.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In the 1980s, the lobster population in the waters off the coast of Maine was declining, threatening disaster for the state's lobster fishing industry. Government scientists attributed the drop-off to overfishing and recommended raising the minimum legal size of lobsters that could be harvested. Lobstermen disagreed, contending that their longstanding practice of returning oversized lobsters to the sea as brood stock would take care of the problem. In this intriguing and entertaining book, Corson, a journalist who has reported on such diverse subjects as organ transplants and Chinese sweatshops, brings together the often conflicting worlds of commercial lobstermen and marine scientists, showing how the two sides joined forces and tried for 15 years to solve the mystery of why the lobsters were disappearing. He brings the story to life by concentrating on the lobstermen and their families who live in one Maine fishing community, Little Cranberry Island, and alternating narratives of their lives with accounts of the research of scientists who, obsessed with the curious life of lobsters, conduct experiments that are often as strange and complex as the lobsters themselves. Corson provides more information about the lobster's unusual anatomy, eating habits and sex life than most readers will probably want to know, but he makes it all fascinating, especially when he juxtaposes observations of human behavior and descriptions of the social life of lobsters. However, by the end of the book, the answer to the puzzle remains elusive. Agent, Stuart Krichevsky. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A close-up look at the Maine lobster fishery and at the feisty crustaceans on which it's based. Boston-based journalist Corson focuses on a small community of lobstermen (and, of late, women) on Little Cranberry Island, in the Gulf of Maine. He follows them out to the hunting grounds on their boats, describes their traps and the onboard routine of baiting, setting, and emptying the huge wire cages. Working the same grounds as their grandfathers, the lobstermen face daily hostile elements and back-breaking work. Their prey, familiar on dinner plates around the world, was until recently one of the least understood creatures in the ocean. Scientists had determined that lobsters' sense of smell was highly developed, and assumed that female lobsters used their pheromones to lure the males of the species to mate with them. Only when a mixed group of captive lobsters was assembled in artificial habitats similar to those in the wild did the scientists discover that the males stayed at home and the females came to woo them. One female lobster after another would take up housekeeping with the dominant male, stay until she was impregnated, then make place for one of her sisters. Each female could carry hundreds of thousands of eggs on her tail. Lobster fishermen, who followed the practice of returning pregnant females to the water, assumed that the population was in little danger of overfishing; government scientists assumed the worst, and pushed for tighter restrictions on the size of lobsters that could be kept. Corson follows the fishermen and the maverick scientists who took their side in the dispute, along the way providing as complete a course in the lives of both lobsters and lobstermen asanyone could wish. Charmingly written, full of fascinating detail: a delight. Agent: Stuart Krichevsky/Stuart Krichevsky Agency
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