Western Flyer
Steinbeck's Boat, the Sea of Cortez, and the Saga of Pacific Fisheries
In January 2010, the Gemini was moored in the Swinomish Slough on a Native American reservation near Anacortes, Washington. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the rusted and dilapidated boat was in fact the most famous fishing vessel ever to have sailed: the original Western Flyer, immortalized in John Steinbeck's nonfiction classic "The Log from the Sea of Cortez".
In this book, Kevin M. Bailey resurrects this forgotten witness to the changing tides of Pacific fisheries. He draws on the Steinbeck archives, interviews with family members of crew, and more than three decades of working in Pacific Northwest fisheries to trace the depletion of marine life through the voyages of a single ship. After Steinbeck and his friend Ed Ricketts – a pioneer in the study of the West Coast's diverse sea life and the inspiration behind "Doc" in Cannery Row – chartered the boat for their now-famous 1940 expedition, the "Western Flyer" returned to its life as a sardine seiner in California. But when the sardine fishery in Monterey collapsed, the boat moved on: fishing for Pacific ocean perch off Washington, king crab in the Bering Sea off Alaska, and finally wild Pacific salmon – all industries that would also face collapse.
As the "Western Flyer" herself faces an uncertain future – a businessman has bought her, intending to bring the boat to Salinas, California, and turn it into a restaurant feature just blocks from Steinbeck's grave – debates about the status of the California sardine, and of West Coast fisheries generally, have resurfaced. A compelling and timely tale of a boat and the people it carried, of fisheries exploited, and of fortunes won and lost, "The Western Flyer" is environmental history at its best: a journey through time and across the sea, charting the ebb and flow of the cobalt waters of the Pacific coast.
About the Author
Kevin M. Bailey is the founding director of the Man & Sea Institute and affiliate professor at the University of Washington. He formerly was a senior scientist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and is the author of "Billion-Dollar Fish: The Untold Story of Alaska Pollock", also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Reviews
"From shrimp in the Sea of Cortez to sardines and Pacific ocean perch on the West Coast, from salmon to king crab, the story of these fisheries is consistent with the spread of fisheries – and overfishing – in general, from coastal waters near major population centers to areas that are increasingly farther offshore, deeper, and more remote. Along with the effects this approach has had on marine life, 'The Western Flyer' also illuminates the impact it has had on coastal communities. Kevin M. Bailey uses this boat to help people see how we have serially depleted one population of marine life after another, and how we have repeated the rationale justifying it all across time and place without learning from past experiences" – John Hocevar, Oceans campaign director, Greenpeace USA
"There are many ways to write about this lovely book. Piecing together the history of the 'Western Flyer' – the boat made famous by John Steinbeck's voyage to the Sea of Cortez – Kevin M. Bailey delivers a fascinating, complex, and compelling portrait. Bailey weaves together illuminating stories of how Steinbeck's time on this sturdy, seaworthy vessel is reflected in his writing with tales of fishermen who skippered the boat, the seas they fished, and the fish they caught and ultimately didn't catch, assembling a powerful and evocative history that might otherwise be forgotten, but which must not be lost if we are ever to return our once-plentiful ocean to abundance" – Deborah Cramer, author of "Great Waters: An Atlantic Passage" and "Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World"
