If Josh Davis ever suspected that his new career on leaving the Canadian Army meant a quieter life, he is quickly disabused of such a notion. Rejecting his father's advice to stay away from the fishing industry, he takes up the post as Director of Resource Management at the federal Department of Fisheries with responsibility for overseeing the conduct of hundreds of domestic and foreign fishing vessels operating adjacent to Canada's east coast. The drama he encounters requires a steely nerve and pinpoint judgement. There is suspense involved in the mysterious abscondment of a Fisheries Observer to Spain with the implication of financial impropriety, including fraud. The unexplained sinking of a patrol vessel causes him grief. He has to deal with the forceful intrusion of an animal rights protesters' ship in the annual seal hunt along with the ensuing media storm. Diplomacy and precautions are required when he accepted an invitation to the Soviet Union. Most alarmingly, he encountered intrigue during a tense espionage operation with a Soviet fishing vessel. Things get out of control and threaten to lead to an international spying incident on the high seas because of his compulsive actions that brought warships and fighter-planes to the scene.