The End of the Line (2009)

Synopsis: In a single human lifetime, we have brought about a change in the oceans far greater than any yet caused by pollution -- through overfishing. Now scientists are warning that in less than 50... In a single human lifetime, we have brought about a change in the oceans far greater than any yet caused by pollution -- through overfishing.

Now scientists are warning that in less than 50 years, if we go on as we are, the wild resources of the oceans will face total collapse with terrible consequences for both ecosystems and the billion people who depend on seafood for protein.

Climate change is currently thought of as the most serious of the long-term problems facing the planet, but there is at least one other Inconvenient Truth. The crisis in the oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, is happening more quickly -- but it is easier to do something about.

In the year or so I spent travelling the globe to write The End of the Line, my book about overfishing, I saw how everywhere unsustainable trends in diet, fashion and health advice were driving forward the ancient tradition of the sea - mine out the seam and move on. I observed how at the pinnacle of culinary fashion celebrity chefs were still riding grossly unsustainable trends and enriching themselves by serving endangered species to their celebrity clientele. Would you serve orangutan? Well, why serve bluefin tuna, for it is just as threatened?

The crisis in the oceans confronts traditions of thought and policy as well as dietary habit. I began my journey in the once-great flatfish port of Lowestoft, where the biggest employer is the fisheries lab, which was meant to ensure there were always fish to catch. I went to the port of Bonavista Newfoundland, where catching a cod attracted a fine of $500 – but the fishermen, who are subsidized, wanted to go back to fishing. I watched the last wild bluefin tuna of the Mediterranean being rounded up illegally by purse seiners and spotter aircraft because of negligent enforcement.

And I went to the port of Dakar, Senegal, where one of Africa’s most productive marine ecosystems is being mined out by subsidized European fleets to the detriment of the indigenous population. I also saw vast ships catching blue whiting in unsustainable quantities to be turned into fishmeal for salmon farms.

We have reached a pivotal moment with fishing, as we did with farming in the 1960s and 1970s. We now have a choice. Do we go with the rare examples of good, sustainable practice, such as the dazzling marine reserves of New Zealand, the way fishing is regulated in Iceland, New Zealand or in the United States’ waters in Alaska? Or do we go on as we are and leave our grandchildren with nothing wild to eat but jellyfish and plankton? --© New Vision [More]

Director: Rupert Murray

Director: Rupert Murray
Studio: New Vision Media