STRIPER WARS: AN AMERICAN FISH STORY. By Dick Russell.

2005 1st edition. 8vo (156 x 226mm). Ppx,358. B/w illustrations by Anthony Benton Gude. Eggshell blue paper-covered boards, silver-gilt titles to black cloth spine.

"When decades of overfishing by commercial interests sent striper populations into free fall, Russell emerged as a key spokesman in a long-shot crusade by dedicated fishermen to save them. In one of nature's great comebacks, groundbreaking moratoriums allowed the population to rebound more than tenfold in the years from 1982 to 2002." Chapters include: Origins of a fish story; A tale of two fishes; Storm over the Hudson; The conscience of a lure maker; A man named Mendonsa; How the striped bass stopped a highway and eluded the mob; How Rhode Island changed the world; showdown at Friendship Airport; Revolt of the biologists; Striper magic; The double-edged sword of "full recovery"; The Myco mystery; The town that menhaden built; Upriver; California stripers; Keepers of the river; Stripers forever?