On an island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, fishermen are barely eking out a living, where a crisis due to a combination of factors, including climate change and overfishing, has changed the fabric of the community. Journalist Mark Weston spent two years living on Ukerewe Island and wrote The Saviour Fish, a very personal account of their situation.
The island was the hub of a fishing boom centered around Nile perch, an invasive species of fish introduced by former colonial power, Britain. Weston discusses in the book how this one move turned from boom to bust, creating an environmental disaster after other fish species were eliminated, allowing waterborne diseases to thrive.
