The universally admired salmon has long swum in the flow of human ‘progress’, but no other species has found itself amid such a maelstrom of modern debates. Within salmon’s evolving narrative lies a remarkable but oft-forgotten quest: to bring salmon to the Southern Hemisphere. In this timely exploration, Steve Harris uncovers how an obsession in the penal colony of Tasmania led to one of the most audacious wildlife feats the world has ever seen.
James Youl (founder of the Australian Trout Fishery) wanted to turn the world upside down by transplanting salmon, and then trout, into the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. His mission was dismissed as scientific and ungodly madness, but over several decades of trial and tragedy it became the most audacious, romantic, and intensive wildlife feat the world has ever seen. His quest rewrote the laws of natural history and seeded today’s enormous consumption of salmon, the worldwide
reputation of fishing in Australian and New Zealand waters, the global boom in fish
farming, and the still-unresolved questions of the relationship between nature and humankind.
Steve Harris is a former editor, editor-in-chief and publisher at the Age, Sunday Age and Herald Sun. He is the author of three nonfiction books, and in 2024 was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for significant contributions to print journalism. He is a life member of Melbourne Press Club, and a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University.
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