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Commentary Seaspiracy: As Divers Should We Stop Eating Fish?

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DeeperBlue.com said:
There is a new environmental documentary that has hit our screens this week from Netflix - Seaspiracy. We examine the facts in the film and look at whether we should be giving up eating fish as divers.

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We shouldn’t give up eating fish at all. That is a poor conclusion based on what is shown in the documentary. However we should consider not buying any more of the industrially produced fish or fish products.
It really is the fishing industry that is causing most of the harm but there are other options to eat fish that’s sustainably harvested.


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Reactions: Mr. X and Leander
DeeperBlue.com said:
There is a new environmental documentary that has hit our screens this week from Netflix - Seaspiracy. We examine the facts in the film and look at whether we should be giving up eating fish as divers.

Read the original post on DeeperBlue.com...
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"Ultimately I think the film has done a fantastic job of opening people’s eyes to the horrors of the commercial fishing industry and how we are raping our oceans on a daily basis… but let’s all decided the best course of action by getting informed of what is good to do. We all need to decide what we want to do as consumers and inhabitants of this planet."

Absolutely - don't throw out the baby with the bathwater - kneejerk responses are as bad as the problem itself. I'm spearfishing what I need. Should I "give up eating fish"? We need to be careful how we phrase the issue and sensible about how we try to make a positive difference. Otherwise we are not part of the solution.
 
Reactions: LukasB7, Mr. X and Kodama
This documentary made me reflex a lot too. I discussed the topic with friends and family and one to the points raised by my friend Rich was: “if catching your own fish selectively draws you away from consuming mass produced poultry, beef or fish, it’s a win win in my eyes”.
I keep chicken at home, both for meat and eggs. It’s surprising how little space you need to do it properly and in a respectful way towards the animals involved.
There is no silver bullet for the world-wide shit storm of resources depletion.... I guess the best we can do as individuals is “something”. You don’t have to be a recycling god, Vegan Guru, or self sustainable farmer all at the same time. Doing “something” about it is far better than doing nothing about it cause the cause is lost...

depressing...
 
The whole discussion of ethics regarding killing/abusing animals is pointless. It's called cognitive dissonance. The fact that meat/fish tastes great doesn't mean we have to eat it. Just like drugs could make you feel good doesn't mean we should do drugs every day. As freedivers we already know about fighting some of our natural instincts. Eating animals is just an outdated natural instinct that needs to be fought back in order for us to get rid of cognitive dissonance.
 
CrazySwede said:
Eating animals is just an outdated natural instinct that needs to be fought back in order for us to get rid of cognitive dissonance.
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I fail to see how nutrition is outdated. Its a bonus the meat tastes good, because like most things in the right amount, is good for us. The focus should be on ethics and sustainability as there is a lot of ignorance. That starts in schools. Some kids think milk comes from a shop. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls: Hughes save our seas series, was really good and bang on point. I would love to see purse seine netting banned and/or strict quoter that were enforced internationally.

And someone needs to pull the Chinese into line. The shenanigans occurring in the Galapagos is a disgrace. i Don’t have a problem taking sharks. As long as there is a quoter and the entire animal is used.

As already stated, I think sustainable hunting is fantastic for some many reasons, and although not everyone has the chance to practice, those that can should be encouraged to do so and teach the next generation what they are protecting and why. Those kids are the policy makers of tomorrow!
 
I'm not claiming a vegan diet is the healthiest option - it may or may not be - I don't think there has been enough scientific studies about it. But the fact is people are making up all sorts of excuses to keep killing and abusing animals. To me hunting animals is way better than producing them in a farm - for a number of reasons. But if you keep thinking about it - if you really care about animals, the future of our world and humanity - you might as well just stop eating animals altogether. With increasing human population its not sustainable for us to keep farming animals the way we do. To hunt animals for fun is not ethical. There might come a time where humans is no longer at the top of the "food"-chain, and by that time its possible we could be judged in terms of our past behavior as a whole. Basically, a god-like artificial intelligence will take over the world and could milk us for our precious brain-juice.
 
 
I DON'T understand the reluctance to stop buying commercially farmed and or caught fish. The simplest, fastest, easiest solution to solve this problem is to stop buying those products if you want to reign in this industry while we give our fish populations time to replenish. If you believe regulations are going to work, you are sadly misinformed. And this emergency triage needs to happen before we destroy species altogether. Not much of a sacrifice for most wealthier countries with easy access to other sources of proteins, including vegetables. I do my part by only buying locally line-caught fish, and reduced my consumption of seafood from 4 days a week to 4 times a month while adding more vegetable proteins to offset, however, I am fortunate to live in Florida where I have those choices.

I also refused to support commercial/industrial animal farming almost 10 years ago by only buying sustainably raised, pasture-raised, grass-fed, no antibiotics, no hormones animal proteins. This is also the simplest easiest way to say NO to a farming industry that is destroying watersheds, waterways, and horribly mistreating cattle, pigs, and chickens. Not to mention the trickle-down impact on your own health after eating these products tainted with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics from terribly treated and unhealthy animals. If you hit any industry at their profit margins, they will be forced to change their business model or go out of business altogether. I wish more people would do their part by being better informed on the origin of their food choices.
 
Reactions: LukasB7
Imo fishing had been a part of human civilization for as long as you can go back. The problem happened when the number of humans expanded exponentially and we created super tankers, that basically scoop up the whole ocean and dump it into our glutinous mouth. Buy your fish from a local market or get it yourself
 
No, eating fish is extremely healthy and natural for humans. But commercial overfishing, especially for non-human consumption (for fertilizer and animal feed) and sharkfins should definitely be restricted. Countries that engage in factory fishing that I am aware of: Holland, China and Russia but I expect there are more. Some of the commercial fishing practices from other countries, such as the UK (yes us) and France (e.g. pair trawling Channel Island breeding grounds) should also be examined with a critical eye IMHO.

Ultimately commercial fishermen fish themselves out of business but the big factory ship scour the globe now, so that will be when sea fishes are almost extinct
 
The US commercial fishing fleet is the most regulated (and over regulated) fleet on the ocean. Notice that nothing in this drama-doc mentions that. Less than 1000 miles around almost any coastline are massive Chinese fishing fleets, with factory processing ships, and a total disregard for any attempt for sustainable harvesting of fish, including incidental catch. I would also suggest looking at where the funding for the film came from, and what bias they have brought to the screen.
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Yes, when I wrote my post, it struck me that it was odd but good that the USA was not a factory fishing nation as far as I am aware. I suspect the USA may be ahead of the game in some regards here (fish conservation), probably as a result of previous devastating overfishing (east coast cod?). Harrumph for the USA.

Yes, sadly China seems to be a major problem for fish stocks worldwide now. I think the Chinese government is aware and concerned of the global environmental destruction that is rapidly unfolding now but with such a huge population, they have huge internal demands to effectively destroy the environment we all depend on for survival - but they are not alone
 
Reactions: Buddy Walsh
Very sad film, especially when you consider that the damage is probably irreversible, just like all the animals near extinction, habitat loss, and climate change. I don't see nations getting organized to stop before it's too late. For spear fishermen, who knows. We may be the last generations that get to enjoy this activity. I hardly felt pressured to stop fishing, since what I took away from the film was that industrial level fishing is the problem and, at the very least, spearfishing is probably one of the most sustainable ways to fish. I caught one big blue fish two days ago, it fed me and several relatives for dinner last night. Since then strangely I haven't felt like going again. It's as though that big catch satisfied my need to hunt (for a couple days at least).

I also used to think that eating animals was outdated (I never was a vegan though), but that presumes we can find a healthy way to sustain ourselves without animal products. Last summer I went on the meat diet because I found that carbs and plant-products cause me to have joint pain (inflammation). I continue to eat meat and the occasional fish though I do hope that one day as humans we can use our brains to find a way to stop wreaking havoc.
 
I heard an article on the news yesterday that they are now looking at mining minerals for smartphones and batteries from the deep ocean. Several major companies have already said they will not use products with content sourced this way - but that might just make it cheaper for less scrupulous companies, can't help thinking of China and Russia here but I hope they prove me wrong.
 
DeeperBlue.com said:
There is a new environmental documentary that has hit our screens this week from Netflix - Seaspiracy. We examine the facts in the film and look at whether we should be giving up eating fish as divers.

Read the original post on DeeperBlue.com...
Click to expand...

"Seaspiracy" critics have assailed what appear to be staged interviews, soundbites taken out of context, and mistaken or false assertions made during the program:

'Seaspiracy' fact check: An expert debunks the controversial Netflix doc

Is Netflix's 'Seaspiracy' worth watching? A marine ecologist debunks the movie's biggest mistake — and reveals what it got right.
www.inverse.com

Seaspiracy: Netflix documentary accused of misrepresentation by participants

NGOs and experts quoted in film say it contains ‘misleading’ claims, erroneous statistics and out-of-context interviews
www.theguardian.com

Seaspiracy: A Call To Action Or A Vehicle Of Misinformation?

Seaspiracy's use of lies and half-truths stands to push the ocean conservation movement backward.
www.forbes.com

Is Netflix's Seaspiracy film right about fishing damaging oceans?

Are the activities of the fishing industry destroying the world's oceans as a new film suggests?
www.bbc.com

Serious ocean people agree with Thai navy that Netflix’s ‘Seaspiracy’ is crap | Coconuts

A sexy Netflix doc leaning on images of swarthy Asian thugs to call out the sins of Thailand’s fishing industry isn’t just being criticized in the kingdom but by a slew of environmental organizations and experts worldwide. In fact, Netflix’s Seaspiracy has been slammed for being chock full of...
coconuts.co

I would reserve judgment until the topic is covered by professional journalists.
 
@PRISM - out of interest who would you class as professional journalists? You've quoted articles by the Guardian, Forbes, and BBC in there.

This is a very nuanced subject - I've spoken to or been on calls with lots of experts on both sides - it's not practical to stop eating fish for many people in various parts of the world, but yes a lot needs to be done to deal with the commercial fishing industry. The documentary was good at raising awareness but its one-sided tone has made a lot of people involved in trying to make fishing sustainable very uneasy. It's also clear the filmmakers set out with an agenda from the start if you listen to what is being said by those who were interviewed or asked to be interviewed but declined.

Have a read of my article on DB that kicked off this thread. Feedback received to date is that it is a balanced viewpoint looking at both sides: https://www.deeperblue.com/seaspiracy-as-divers-should-we-stop-eating-fish/
 
Stephan,

Who would I class as professional journalists? For starters, those who observe best practices as journalists:

SPJ Code of Ethics - Society of Professional Journalists

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues.
www.spj.org

The important topic deserves a properly made documentary. Awareness of the issue well predated this film, ie: NFFO, FAO et al.

Prism
 
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