The Firth of Forth; an environmental history
Christopher Smout and Mairi Stewart
ISBN[/b]9781780270647
http://www.birlinn.co.uk/The-Firth-of-Forth-9781780270647.html (http://www.birlinn.co.uk/The-Firth-of-Forth-9781780270647.html)
I cannot recommend this excellent book highly enough ......... it is a comprehensive account of human exploitation of the Firth of Forth from the Mesolithic to the last years of the 20th Century that had reduced it from a bountiful source of food and wealth to an almost barren cess; and the subsequent improvements that are once more allowing it breathe once more!
By way of example they recount the tale of the humble Forth Sparling (a salmonoid) which once upon a time sustained fisheries in the upper Forth, particularly around Alloa. Apparently they have a delicate flavour and a fine cucumber smell when fresh. The combination of over exploitation and particularly pollution meant that by the 1970's they were presumed all but extinct. During the 1980's as modern pollution control was introduced, scientists considered a trial reintroduction, but before they could act a single Sparling was recorded in the Forth in 1989 and are now thriving.
There are a multitude of other tales recording the boom and bust of the herring fishery, the destruction of the once extensive Oysterbeds, the treatment of Edinburgh's sewage, land reclamation for industry and agriculture, the seals, the seabird populations and industrial pollution.
A couple of reviews:
The Herald http://www.heraldscotland.com/books-poetry/reviews/tc-smout-and-mairi-stewart-the-firth-of-forth-an-environmental-history-birlinn.19755469 (http://www.heraldscotland.com/books-poetry/reviews/tc-smout-and-mairi-stewart-the-firth-of-forth-an-environmental-history-birlinn.19755469)
The Scotsman http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/books/book-review-the-firth-of-forth-an-environmental-history-by-tc-smout-and-mairi-stewart-1-2733228 (http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/books/book-review-the-firth-of-forth-an-environmental-history-by-tc-smout-and-mairi-stewart-1-2733228)
A superb read; in fact the best fishing related book I have read since been engulfed and engrossed in Jon Berry's "Beneath the black water"