Some Fishes I Have Known
is a non-scientific book that views fish as individuals beyond a tooth inventory or fin count or stomach contents duly noted. These gill breathers come forth to see, feel and ask, How do you do?

In Some Fishes I Have Known, Robert Wintner focuses on the reef and its denizens as a social order, in which the fish see, feel and know, according to Hawaiian cultural belief.

Every other fish guide available views fish with cold-blooded objectivity, separating the data from its soulful source. Yet any human ever facing a curious reef fish knows the feeling of engagement—of communication through non-intellectual means: communion.

The message, the beauty, and the entertainment value of the images in Some Fishes I Have Known strive to share what the title implies, familiarity with some fish—in some cases acquaintance, and in a few rare examples, friendship. The book is colorful and based in action. It leaves readers uplifted with insight to the lives and homes of reef fish, while pointing out a dark undercurrent now sweeping reefs clean around the world, the aquarium trade. Hawaii supplies 80% of all fish in U.S. aquaria, and many more fish for Europe and China.

Underwater is under the radar for this devastating commercial extraction with no regulation, no catch limit, no limit on the number of catchers and no protection for rare or endemic species. It’s free-for-all devastation, “managed” by the State of Hawaii.

World consciousness is now inclined to stop the destruction. Some Fishes I Have Known informs on a critical issue while introducing the key players—the good guys—with panache and sympathy. The narrative is playful yet powerful, succinctly sweet and painfully stringent.

The subject and photos are fresh, innovative and of fundamental importance.