When Netflix Original documentary Seaspiracy began streaming this week, it quickly rose to #1 in the US. Filled with tales of the horrors of the industrial fishing industry and the murderous means fishermen go to to capitalize on the ocean, it was hard to watch for many who care about our marine life.
Director Ali Talbrizi paints a poignant picture. Him and his wife travel around the world, delving into what commercial fishing is and how it might be pursued sustainably. By the end of the film it is clear that the only way for the average consumer to affect change is to stop eating seafood.
The capitalistic powers of the world will not willingly conceded their billion dollar industry. The only way to make them sop, is to stop buying their products. Primarily tuna. Tuna is one of the most expensive fish and ironically also one of the most popular for consumption. At $3 million per fish, fishermen go to drastic means to catch them, often killing over 14 dolphins per tuna!
And if you think the answer is “sustainable fishing” the answer is not that simple. The organizations that “certify” our dolphin safe tuna or “wild caught” are often paid by the very corporations that profit the most off of the industry. So these labels a nearly worthless, without full transparency of what goes on behind the scenes.
The answer is simple. We must stop eating seafood on a global scale. Just as meat farming poisons our air, overfishing and fish farming is killing our seas. And “humans cannot live on a planet with a dead ocean.” (Seaspiracy)
