Reviews:
The Wall Street Journal: "This excellent book is buoyed by deft portraits of the important players on either side of the nets—poignantly so in regard to some honest scientists whose careers were derailed by industry attacks—and its final chapters describe some hopeful initiatives now in progress..."
The New York Times: “This expertly reported investigation tackles the salmon farming industry, documenting how its industrialization endangers the keystone species, puts consumer health at risk and threatens the environment.”
Macleans Magazine: “In this impeccably researched dive into salmon farming, the authors— investigative journalists based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia— provide a searing account of toxic industrial practices, health risks and blatant disinformation. Their portrait of chemical-fed, pathogen-ravaged fish caged in pens (usually marketed as ‘organic,’ ‘sustainable’ and ‘naturally raised’) is convincing and devastating.”
Publishers Weekly: “Erin Brockovich meets Wicked Tuna in this searing exposé from reporters Collins and Frantz …. This stellar investigation is the rare one that has the power to impact policymakers and consumers alike.”
Kirkus Reviews: “A compelling investigation that will leave consumers reevaluating their food choices.”
Nancy Pollard, Kitchen Detail: After decades of running one of the best cooks’ stores in the U.S., Nancy Pollard has turned her attention to writing about food – in all its aspects, from culture to public policy. This fall, she took on salmon farming in three distinct essays – from the history of salmon farming, in which she wrote: “As individual consumers, we have only some power in numbers. A helpful long-term bet to halting these polluting, damaging practices is make informed purchases.”
The Quaking Journal, a Substack essay by Linda Pannozzo, an award-winning author and journalist who has written widely about ecological degradation and public policy for two decades. In the Quaking Swamp, Pannozzo posts commentary and analysis and the occasional deep dive into public interest issues from food security to environmental issues.
“A new book pulls back the covers on the true costs of salmon farming, the lax systems that regulate it, and what we can do about it.”
Salmon Wars has been recommended as a top summer read by:
The Toronto Globe and Mail: “This disturbing expose … delves into what they call ‘the new Wild West’ of salmon-farming; one in which multinationals exploit a lack of regulation to market a product of dubious and even deleterious health benefit.”
Bloomberg News: “Fish may not be the healthy option after all. Frantz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and his wife, Collins, herself a storied investigative reporter, take readers into the oceanic version of factory farming. Salmon crammed into aquatic feedlots by the millions and stuffed with chemicals aren’t just a humanitarian issue, they write: They’re also an (avoidable!) ecological disaster in the making.”
Literary Hub: “Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Frantz and former private investigator Collins team up to expose the destructive impact of Big Salmon (which the authors compare to Big Tobacco and Big Agribusiness in its insidiousness) on both the natural world and on public health. Collins and Frantz take us from the massive parasite- and chemical-plagued ocean feedlots to the grotesque industrial hatcheries that threaten fragile coastal ecosystems, interviewing a slew of colorful and shady characters along the way.”
Editors of Amazon.com selected Salmon Wars as a Best Nonfiction Book of July, 2022.
The New York Times: On July 24th, Salmon Wars was selected by The New York Times as one of 6 Paperbacks to Read This Week. The paperback version is now available for purchase online and at local, independent bookstores.
Articles:
For a preview of the book, excerpts have been published in High Country News and Natural History Magazine.
3 Reasons to Avoid Farmed Salmon on Time.com, written by Doug and Catherine.
Warming Waters Challenge Atlantic Salmon, Both Wild and Farmed, written by Doug and Catherine. Yale Environment 360, Published by the Yale School of the Environment, September 15