'Mark Weston's book is a delight. From charming neighbourhood children
to failing fish stocks, not forgetting the perfect recipe for banana
beer, The Saviour Fish is a compelling account of life on a remote
Tanzanian island, told by a writer who has his eyes wide open and his
heart fully engaged.' James Copnall, Presenter, Newsday, BBC World
Service, and author of A Poisonous Thorn in our Hearts: Sudan and South
Sudan's Bitter and Incomplete Divorce Sent to live on a remote island in
the Tanzanian half of Lake Victoria, Mark Weston finds a community
grappling with one of the world's great unknown environmental crises.
'You used to be able to stand on the beach and fish. In my father's
time, you could catch them with your bare hands.' Lake Victoria was once
one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but a predator released into
its waters by East Africa's British colonisers has left a trail of
destruction in its wake. The lives of millions of people have been
upended, as a fateful confluence of overfishing, pollution and
deforestation has triggered one of history's greatest mass extinctions.
On remote Ukerewe Island, Mark Weston finds out how local communities
are responding to the crisis. He lives for two years alongside the
families and fishermen hardest hit by the upheaval and gets to know the
aid workers, sorcerers and holy men whose businesses are booming. A
captivating blend of travel writing and environmental reportage, The
Saviour Fish paints an intimate picture of rural Tanzanian life, and of
the human cost of biodiversity loss.
