Top 9 Quotes by Charles Clover

The Romans believed that what no man controls, no man can own. Justinian, writing in the sixth century AD, said that the air, flowing water, the sea and the seashore were common to all.

The Romans believed that what no man controls, no man can own. Justinian, writing in the sixth century AD, said that the air, flowing water, the sea and the seashore were common to all.

Charles Clover

Writing, Men, Air

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.151, Univ of California Press

I believe citizens are beginning to realize that their birthright, a healthy ecosystem, has been stolen, and they want it back.

Charles Clover

Believe, Ecosystems, Healthy

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.317, Univ of California Press

Increasingly, we will be faced with a choice: whether to keep the oceans for wild fish or farmed fish. Farming domesticated species in close proximity with wild fish will mean that domesticated fish always win. Nobody in the world of policy appears to be asking what is best for society, wild fish or farmed fish. And what sort of farmed fish, anyway? Were this question to be asked, and answered honestly, we might find that our interests lay in prioritizing wild fish and making their ecosystems more productive by leaving them alone enough of the time.

Charles Clover

Ocean, Mean, Winning

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.313, Univ of California Press

The availability of fish is a food security issue. We need to stop our first world fleets taking fish from the mouths of the poor. The EU fleet goes all up and down the coast of Africa. The same thing goes on in the Pacific.

Charles Clover

World, Poor, Food Security

"Are We Nearing the End of the Line for Edible Ocean Fish?". Interview with Mark Karlin, truthout.org. July 19, 2011.

You can cruise the world's millions of omega-3 Web sites without encountering any reflections about where these prized fatty acids are coming from and at what social or environmental cost. For some people, what goes into their bodies has become an overriding obsession. Perhaps we are witnessing a successor to the Me Generation--namely, the Don't Care About the Rest of the World as Long as I Have a Spa and Some Omega-3 Fatty Acids Generation. Let's call it the Omega-3 Generation for short. Or is that thought just too depressing?

Charles Clover

Depressing, Reflection, Fatty Acids

Domesticated salmon, after several generations, are fat, listless things that are good at putting on weight, not swimming up fast-moving rivers. When they get into a river and breed with wild fish, they can damage the wild fish's prospects of surviving to reproduce.

Charles Clover

Moving, Swimming, Rivers

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.312, Univ of California Press

Celebrity chefs are the leaders in the field of food, and we are the led. Why should the leaders of chemical businesses be held responsible for polluting the marine environment with a few grams of effluent, which is sublethal to marine species, while celebrity chefs are turning out endangered fish at several dozen tables a night without enduring a syllable of criticism?

Charles Clover

Marine, Night, Sea

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.189, Univ of California Press

I have never seen a food writer mention this, but all shrimp imported into the United States must first be washed in chlorine bleach to kill bugs. What this does for the taste, I do not know, but I think we should be told.

Charles Clover

Thinking, United States, Doe

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.301, Univ of California Press

Fish farming, even with conventional techniques, changes fish within a few generations from an animal like a wild buffalo or a wildebeest to the equivalent of a domestic cow.

Charles Clover

Change, Animal, Cows

Charles Clover (2008). “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and what We Eat”, p.312, Univ of California Press