The book is a gripping account of Sea Shepherd's pursuit of a pirate fishing vessel, highlighting the dangers and bravery involved in fighting illegal fishing. It also underscores the need for greater international cooperation to combat environmental crime.
Catching Thunder is a thrilling true-life crime novel that details Sea Shepherd's 110-day chase of the pirate fishing vessel Thunder. The book is both a page-turner and a well-researched documentary account of the illegal fishing industry, revealing the complexities and dangers involved. The authors, Eskil Engdal and Kjetil Sæter, provide a chilling look at the criminal networks behind illegal fishing and the bravery of those who fight against it. The book highlights the need for greater international cooperation to combat environmental crime and the risks taken by environmental NGOs in the absence of adequate government action. It's a compelling read that sheds light on a largely unknown but critical issue.
Quick quotes
The book takes us from the once state of the art fishing vessel’s birth in 1969 in Ulsteinvik, Norway, across the oceans, and to Galicia, Spain, where unscrupulous mafias have specialised in the illegal fishing and whitewashing of Patagonian tooth fish, a lucrative species of cod icefish also named the “white gold of the ocean”.
Chilling in places, with many situations hovering on the edge of extreme danger, one admires Sea Shepherd but also yells at them for the reckless peril they subject themselves to.
The takeaway is that combating environmental crime requires greater international cooperation than is the case today, and meanwhile, environmental NGOs are filling the enforcement vacuum left by inadequate government action.