#seaspiracy

The cost of commercial fishing. For De Morgen

BUT THATS NOT THE WHOLE THING.

There are very important parts. It discusses aspects of the commercial fishing industry, the impact of microplastics, the impact of ocean life on human life and vice versa.

I'm not saying this is the end all be all of documentaries. It's important that you research these kinds of things if they interest you.

I’ve never seen it myself, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that it’s rather sensationalized (and that it once again makes the false claim that Western marine parks procure their animals from dolphin drives like Taiji).

Honestly, documentaries in general aren’t the best sources of information. Most are designed to push some sort of an agenda rather than rationally present the facts, and the use of music and visuals makes it way easier to inspire strong emotions in your audience than any written piece.

Sometimes that’s fine—emotions are important, and it’s difficult to expect someone to care about something they’re not emotionally invested in. But too many people treat documentaries as the end-all-be-all on a topic rather than a mere introduction. It also annoys me to no end that documentaries can make statements of fact without providing any sources. IMO there should be a little citation that pops up in the corner of the screen, and maybe a QR code or other link in the credits to a references page.

Being informed about climate change and its very real consequences is crucial for all human beings. The truth is no easy pill to swallow, and anxiety about climate change is real, but our lives and the continued existence of our planet depends on people knowing what’s up. 

I've rounded up the best climate change documentaries that you can watch to raise your awareness on climate change.

A Plastic Ocean (2016)

 Before The Flood (2016)

Brave Blue World (2020)

Chasing Coral (2017)

Chasing Ice (2012)

Climate Refugees (2010)

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014)

David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (2020)

Gardeners of Eden (2014)

How To Change The World (2015)

Kiss The Ground (2020)

Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things (2015)

Mission Blue (2014)

More Than Honey (2012)

No Impact Man (2009)

Our Planet (2019)

Our Planet: Behind The Scenes (2019)

Seaspiracy (2021)

The Human Element (2018)

The Ivory Game (2016)

Tomorrow (2015)

Virunga (2014)

When Tabrizi starts to do serious research for the film, he discovers that consumer plastics are far from the main culprit in wildlife degradation. On the contrary, plastic straws make up only 0.025 percent of the ocean’s plastic. (And though Tabrizi doesn’t mention it, banning them can be harmful to people with disabilities.)

The real motherlode of plastic junk isn’t from personal use; it’s from commercial fishing. About 46 percent of the 79,000 tons of garbage in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of fishing nets. Fishing tackle and gear were the main component of the garbage in the bellies of Tabrizi’s beached whales, too.

But as bad as fishing waste is, it’s only a small part of the ecological nightmare that is commercial fishing. Fishing vessels use thirty-mile lines with thousands of baited hooks. Forty percent of their catch consists of species that aren’t commercial; those are just “bycatch” to be thrown back, dead, into the sea. With so much waste, fish populations have cratered; there has been a 71 percent decrease in oceanic sharks since 1970, as just one example.

Some leading environmental organizations downplay the environmental impact of commercial fishing, in part perhaps because they receive funding from the same fishing conglomerates that are creating the pollution. In particular, Tabrizi points out that the Marine Stewardship Council’s sustainable fishery label, appended to tuna and other seafood, is worthless.

The label is supposed to guarantee that catching these fish  did not result in harm to any sea mammals or other marine wildlife. But given the number of fishing boats and the opacity of supply chains, there’s no way to really be sure of how the fish were caught.