Under the influence of salmon : how a man and a fish turned our world upside down

Harris, Steve (Editor)2025

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Summary

While Jules Verne was captivating the world with his fantastical tales of space travel, a man from the British Empire's most remote colony had a dream: to bring salmon to the Antipodes. James Youl wanted to turn the world upside down by transplanting salmon, and then trout, into the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. His mission was dismissed as scientific and ungodly madness, but over several decades of trial and tragedy it became the most audacious, romantic, and intensive wildlife feat the world has ever seen. His quest rewrote the laws of natural history and seeded today's enormous consumption of salmon, the worldwide reputation of fishing in Australian and New Zealand waters, the global boom in fish farming, and the still-unresolved questions of the relationship between nature and humankind. Harris explores the history of salmon and thus, the enduring colonial obsession with mastery over nature and enforcement of Eurocentric aesthetics in his latest historical work.