Shedding light on the misuse of science, this investigation presents an innovative form of environmental writing as one biologist searches for a solution that will save many fish species from life-threatening dams. His adventure takes him from a fisheries patrol boat on the Fraser River to the great Tsukiji fish market in Japan—with stops in the Philippines, Thailand, and assorted South American countries—and his quest finally culminates in the arid outback of northeast Brazil. Along the way, the author encounters many memorable characters, including a six-foot endangered catfish, a Canadian professor with a weakness for Thai bar girls, a chain-smoking Brazilian, and a drug-addled stick-up artist. This account portrays fishermen, fish farmers, and even fish cops in a new light, as well as scientists, shysters, and some very drunk, very hairy Brazilian men in thongs.