At The Hand of Man
 
At The Hand of Man
by
Raymond Bonner
 
Link to NJ Fishing Consumer Alert page Link to NJ Fishing Consumer Alert page
 
While this seems a bit far afield to be on a fishing site, Mr. Bonner's book detailing both the science and the politics leading up to the international ban on the sale of ivory should be on the "must read" list of anybody with an interest in commercial fisheries and the role that the large national and international environmental groups are now playing in fisheries management. 

With much information that would seem to be available only to an insider, Mr. Bonner traces the inter-organizational struggle, the maneuvering and the politicking that was going on in Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom not to save the elephants but to take possession of the "moral high ground" and the increased membership and revenues that went with it. He also raises some fascinating questions regarding how much the elephants - and the Africans - benefited from what was eventually a successful campaign to ban all sale of new ivory. 

Mr. Bonner's reporting on the status of wildlife management in Africa, on its successes and failures. And he leaves us with some serious questions - which were again taken up at the most recent C.I.T.E.S. convention - about managing wildlife in the face of very real social and economic pressures. 


Vintage Books (A Division of Random House), New York, NY, 1994