Kings of Their Own Ocean

An ambitious, interdisciplinary narrative that explores how our insatiable appetite for tuna transformed a cottage industry into a global force (with a billion-dollar black market) and the dangerous effects of that shift as our planet continues to warm, through the lives of one fish and her fisherman.

This is a tale of human obsession. It's the story of one enormous tuna and the dedicated fisherman who first tagged her. Dubbed Amelia (for her transatlantic journey), this fish was first caught off the New England coast by an enigmatic man named Al Anderson. Though a lifelong professional fisherman, Anderson did not see fish simply as a means to a paycheck. Rather, he understood that his own livelihood depended on that of the fish he caught. In riveting detail, Pinchin follows the story of how Al's obsession - he tagged over 60,000 fish in his lifetime -  made him just as many enemies as it did friends, as he existed in the unique and often tense space between a booming bluefin tuna industry and science-fueled conservation efforts. 

KINGS OF THEIR OWN OCEAN is an urgent investigation that combines, science, business, and social justice. Through this lens, readers will come to understand the horrible effects that climate change and over-fishing are having on our oceans. If we don’t understand how tuna live, breed, and move around, especially in this era of increasing climate change, then we run the risk of watching them vanish like Atlantic cod and wild Atlantic Salmon. As Pinchin writes, “Now is the moment when we will get to choose whether we want to live in a world with tuna — or not.”

About the Author

Karen Pinchin is a veteran journalist and culinary school graduate. Most recently, she was the Tow Fellow at PBS Frontline. In 2019, she graduated from Columbia’s Journalism School with a Master of Arts in science journalism, and won the school’s Lynton Fellowship for Book Writing. Her work has appeared in Vox, Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, National Geographic, Modern Farmer, Newsweek International, and The DEEP, among others.  She lives (and fishes) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with her husband and son.

Author Residence: Halifax, Nova Scotia