About
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 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.
REVIEWS
“Weston takes us with him on a remarkable journey, punctuated by well-drawn anecdotes and sharp observations, and brought to life by his elegant description. The Saviour Fish is a charming, compelling exploration of Lake Victoria and its people.”
Simon Allison – The Continent
“Weston’s account of the disappearance of Lake Victoria’s fish is both alarming and absorbing. The Saviour Fish is a wake-up call for the world as it burns through its biodiversity.”
David Steven – UN Foundation
“A warm and readable account of modern life in rural Africa – instantly compelling for anyone who’s travelled or lived there, and highly recommended if you’re about to sample that life yourself.”
RICHARD TRILLO – AUTHOR OF THE ROUGH GUIDE TO WEST AFRICA
“Lake Victoria and the communities that rely on it are grappling with the devastating results of climate change. Mark Weston paints a vivid picture of a way of life under man-made threat.”
Wanderlust Magazine
“The Saviour Fish transports readers to a Tanzanian island where we see up close the potential and perils of humans’ fondness for tinkering with nature…Weston touchingly opens a window into the lives of their friends and neighbors on Ukerewe as they grapple simultaneously with the aftermath of the plummeting perch catch and with an uncertain future.”
John Cannon – Mongabay
“Weston explains an environmental crisis behind failing fish stocks in Lake Victoria, and offers a vivid picture of daily life over two years on Ukerewe Island, where both witch doctors and Christian preachers still have a powerful hold.”
Michael Kerr – Daily Telegraph Books of the Year
“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
“A beautiful portrait of a community on the margins…There is tragedy and struggle here, but also joy and hope, curiosity and wonder, friendship and community. Overall I found it life-affirming, nicely observed and above all, wonderfully human.”
Jeremy Williams – The Earthbound Report
“A poignant and memorable memoir. Lake Victoria seems to have entered Weston’s soul.”
Tom Chesshyre – The Critic
“An engaging story, bustling with the vibrancy of rural Tanzania and the economic, social, and ecological challenges that are shaping life on the island.”
Nathan Hayes – Economist Intelligence Unit
“The Saviour Fish is a brightly woven and revelatory vignette of life on Lake Victoria and the communities inhabiting its shores. It’s a funny and moving story, but sounds a clear warning about the upheaval wrought by environmental change.”
Nick Perry – Agence France-Presse
Gallery
Sniffing porcupine quill to cure my cough
Fishing canoe
Illegal Nile perch for dinner, brought over by Hamisi
Peter’s mud goggles
Listen
“Mixing travel writing with environmental reportage, Mark Weston’s book The Saviour Fish illustrates the fishermen’s plight, but also the beauty of day-to-day life, love, loss, & curious children on Lake Victoria, Tanzania”
Laura Angela Bagnetto interviews Mark on The Saviour Fish for Radio France Internationale.
About 2500 miles due south of Jordan, there is another criminal trade at large: the illegal catching and selling of Tanzanian fish. Mark Weston has been to Lake Victoria to hear about its controversial local delicacy: Nile Perch.
Mark on The Saviour Fish for BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent.