Sea Change
Unlikely allies and a success story of oceanic proportions
A book by Amanda Leland and James Workman
What if we could reverse overfishing, protect fishermen, restore fish stocks to sustainable levels and help preserve a way of life on the open seas, all at the same time?
That’s exactly what happened in the U.S. seafood industry, as told in this inspiring new book, cowritten by EDF Executive Director Amanda Leland and author James Workman.
Sea Change tells the true story of unlikely allies coming together to find common ground — rewriting the playbook for environmental victories and providing proven solutions now used to strengthen fishing communities around the world.
Putting people at the center of climate solutions
For decades, overfishing — catching fish faster than nature can replenish them — was a textbook tragedy. Nets emptied, docks grew quieter and every effort to fix the problem only sparked more fights.
Then an unthinkable coalition of hard-nosed captains, hard-data scientists, hard-pressed regulators and hard-driving environmentalists came together to build a better system based on catch shares, which give fishermen a fixed portion of the total catch.
Sea Change takes readers inside that turnaround through protagonist — and Texas Gulf Coast legend — Keith “Buddy” Guindon, who once fought catch shares but enthusiastically champions them today.
The same approach is now being adapted across Latin America, Europe, Indonesia and Namibia, proving that this isn’t just about fish. It’s about reimagining how we manage forests, groundwater and even climate change.
In a time of alarming threats and challenges, Sea Change offers something rare: hope, yes, but also proof that partnerships and smart, hard-won solutions can fix the most challenging environmental problems.
EDF will use its proceeds from this book to work for healthier, more abundant oceans. No EDF employees will personally profit.
Meet the authors of Sea Change
Amanda Leland
Amanda fell in love with the sea at age five, when her grandfather taught her to fish. She has since gone on to get her master’s degree in marine biology, work as a marine mammal zookeeper, take more than 1,000 scuba dives and kayak every chance she gets. As executive director of Environmental Defense Fund, Amanda brings unlikely allies together to find the ways that work to support healthy communities and economies while reducing climate impacts. She previously led EDF’s Oceans program, a global team in 14 countries focused on reversing overfishing while supporting thriving fishing communities, triggering the dramatic economic and ecological recovery of U.S. fisheries and beyond.
James Workman
James is a storyteller, entrepreneur and author of books on resilience, including the award-winning Heart of Dryness. Drawing on fieldwork with indigenous people, he founded and runs AquaShares, a firm pioneering water credit trading. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, Rabbit Hole, Orion and Washington Monthly. James studied at Yale, Oxford and Stanford and taught at Wesleyan and Whitman, but his real education came from reintroducing wolves, blowing up dams, getting married and raising daughters.
For advanced copies and press inquiries, please contact:
Negin Janati
(203) 246-7715 (office)
Reviews and Praise
“A narrative shot through with optimism.”
— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Leland and Workman make a convincing case that empowering fishermen to work together, even as they compete, can create miracles.”
— BILL MCKIBBEN, The End of Nature
“Sea Change reveals one of the great environmental turnarounds of our time. It’s essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of our oceans.”
— BRUCE BABBITT, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, 1993-2001
“The authors do a spectacular job of capturing the promise, peril, personalities and pioneering efforts to make fisheries sustainable and profitable in ways that work for fishermen and fish.”
—JANE LUBCHENCO, former Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
“Sea Change tells us the greatest environmental success story that no one’s ever heard of.”
— ERIC POOLEY, The Climate War
— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Leland and Workman make a convincing case that empowering fishermen to work together, even as they compete, can create miracles.”
— BILL MCKIBBEN, The End of Nature
“Sea Change reveals one of the great environmental turnarounds of our time. It’s essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of our oceans.”
— BRUCE BABBITT, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, 1993-2001
“The authors do a spectacular job of capturing the promise, peril, personalities and pioneering efforts to make fisheries sustainable and profitable in ways that work for fishermen and fish.”
—JANE LUBCHENCO, former Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
“Sea Change tells us the greatest environmental success story that no one’s ever heard of.”
— ERIC POOLEY, The Climate War