In a lively account of the American tuna industry over the past century, celebrated food writer and scholar Andrew F. Smith relates how tuna went from being sold primarily as a fertilizer to becoming the most commonly consumed fish in the country. In "American Tuna," the so-called "chicken of the sea" is both the subject and the backdrop for other facets of American history: U.S. foreign policy, immigration and environmental politics, and dietary trends.
Smith recounts how tuna became a popular low-cost high-protein food beginning in 1903, when the first can rolled off the assembly line. By 1918, skyrocketing sales made it one of America's most popular seafoods. In the decades that followed, the American tuna industry employed thousands, yet at at mid-century production started to fade. Concerns about toxic levels of methylmercury, by-catch issues, and over-harvesting all contributed to the demise of the industry today, when only three major canned tuna brands exist in the United States, all foreign owned. A remarkable cast of characters-- fishermen, advertisers, immigrants, epicures, and environmentalists, among many others--populate this fascinating chronicle of American tastes and the forces that influence them.

This book explores economic information about the Nation's commercial and recreational fishing activities, and fishing-related industries. Descriptive statistics are provided for the following categories: economic impacts of the commercial seafood industry, commercial fisheries landings, revenue, and price trends; angler expenditures and economic impacts of recreational fishing, recreational fishing catch, effort, and participation rates and employer and non-employer establishment, payroll and annual receipt information for fishing-related industries.

Today, aquaculture in federal waters is among the most talked-about technologies associated with the future of seafood production in the United States. In a report to Congress, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recommended that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) develop a comprehensive, environmentally sound permitting and regulatory program for marine aquaculture. This book reviews research on the effect on U.S. offshore aquaculture of global and national trends in seafood supply and demand, other factors that affect market prices, such as the cost of feed and technology, social factors, government regulations and useful models from other food segments of the U.S. economy and others.

"The Forest and the Marine Stewardship Councils constitute new global governance institutions using voluntary certification and labelling as market incentives to encourage sustainable management. Utilizing a comparative political economic framework, the authors analyze shifting British, Canadian and Australian responses to the stewardship councils"--