Anyone watched Seaspiracy on Netflix yet?

[Carlat86]

I watched this last night and I was genuinely shocked. I like to think I'm pretty clued up on environmental issues. I'm a bit of an information sponge when it comes to this kind of thing but I just could not believe what I was seeing. It makes me want to do something to help but what?

People not eating fish would be a start. It's horrific to watch.

I feel the same as you OP. DH and I watched it the other night and kept stopping to say how mental it all was. I'm also someone who would consider myself very switched on about this sort of thing but it really was eye opening. We've actually said we're going to drastically drop our fish consumption. It's also making me question our meat consumption - we already do meat free days each week but I felt the whaler from Iceland had a fair point - I'm shocked at the grind but ok with the chicken/beef/pork/insert other animal production?

I’ve not watched it yet but I do intend to drop my fish consumption. As a family we find it hard to find meals we all like so it’ll be a long slow change but my eventual aim is to almost totally move away from meat, fish and dairy.

We live by the coast and my Dad has always enjoyed fishing as a passion. So we've decided to only eat fish that we've personally caught and no longer put our money into the practice of big commercial fishing including farmed fish.
More and more of our friends are going meat-free and I can absolutely see why.

I've not seen it but if it's anything like cowspiracy I would take any claims made in it with a massive pinch of salt.

There's elements of bad practice in all industries, it doesn't mean it's widespread/endemic throughout the whole industry.

If you follow the money on these kinds of 'independent' documentaries you often find there is corporate interest behind the direction of the message.

@Scrowy I believe it's made by the same people. I was coming on to say the same thing. I believe they also made game changers which was, quite frankly, full of shit.

I think I was most shocked about the fact that the sustainability labels on fish packaging as well as the dolphin safe stickers on cans of tuna aren't worth the paper they're printed on. And I personally seek out these labels because I think I'm doing the right thing.

[quote AyyMacarena]@Scrowy I believe it's made by the same people. I was coming on to say the same thing. I believe they also made game changers which was, quite frankly, full of shit. [/quote]
... and funded / directed by James Cameron, famous movie director and co founder of a plant based food business

vegconomist.com/society/james-cameron-and-peter-jackson-set-up-plant-based-food-business-in-new-zealand/

www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a29067926/the-game-changers-movie-fact-check/

Nothing at all dodgy about a highly skilled vegan movie director with financial and emotional skin in the game making highly emotive and persuasive documentaries encouraging everyone to go vegan

I watched it the other day and shocked. Irrespective of who it’s funded by, some of the figures are absolutely shocking

I haven’t watched it yet. Might download it to watch on my next trip on my deep sea factory boat. 🤫

though I reckon I won’t recognise a lot of what they show as fact

Nothing wrong with promoting veganism. What these animals go through is heartbreaking. I've seen pigs gassed and it was horrowing. There is nothing humane about a kill line. Local or grass fed, they all stood together.

@Scrowy

I've not seen it but if it's anything like cowspiracy I would take any claims made in it with a massive pinch of salt.

There's elements of bad practice in all industries, it doesn't mean it's widespread/endemic throughout the whole industry.

If you follow the money on these kinds of 'independent' documentaries you often find there is corporate interest behind the direction of the message.

I haven't seen what OP is mentioning yet but I know it's produced by the same team behind cowspiracy

We live by an actual fishing village and will only eat fish caught from local inshore boats. No trawlers, nothing exotic. So mackerel, cod, bass, mullet etc. And crab. And only the expensive scallops (twice a year probably!) which are local. Haven't bought prawns for yonks because you can't get local and they're all farmed in the far east.
It's a no brainer. The MSC have a website where you can check the carbon footprint of various fish. We're obviously lucky because of where we live.

Am the same as @shallIswim.

The price the small boats get for their catch at market is pitiful. Mackerel went for 70p a kilo the other day. I saw some in the supermarket the same weekend and looked at the prices; £12.99 per kilo.

Someone is making a lot of money and it is not the guys who put their lives at risk.

Buy straight from the boats if you possibly can an you will be helping a local family.

I watched it last night, and was shocked, I consider myself quite clued up on environmental issues and whilst I knew the fishing industry had issues, I didn't quite realise how big.

I know people have said it's made by the same people as Cowspiracy.. take it all with a pinch of salt etc etc.. but it can't all be made up ? There are massive plastic waste issues from fishing, by catch is a big problem too..

The Maldives are about to try revoke their shark fishing ban

I don't understand why these issues are taught in schools? We have all these schools trying to reduce plastic, but why aren't we teaching children about how destructive fishing industries etc can be?

I've watched it and have a in depth understanding into aquaculture, fisheries and environmental impact (it was my degrees and part of a large chunk of my work).

It's very very skewed I can't call it a documentary as its not. Some aspects are correct in relation to dolphin and shark fin fishing. But large parts of it aren't and paints a picture that this is what every fishing vessel or farm is like. Its simply incorrect. There was no balance, no understanding of sustainable fishing or fish farming, no aquaponic systems etc etc.

The UK waters actually has some of the world's most recovered and sustainable fish stocks the med in comparison is one of the worst.

I suggest doing your own reading into sustainability.

Thank you for the balance in this thread. So many friends have voiced their horror of the programme on social media recently and how they’ll never eat fish again etc etc I was worried about watching but will now do so with an open mind.

Seaspiracy has been fact checked on the BBC today and many of the authors of the quotes used saying that either the research is now outdated due to changes made to manage stocks or has been taken out of context which is correct.

UK waters has one of the best recovered fish stocks for instance.
Basically if you want to eat fish then buy from local sources and sustainable species - MSC has useful information on species and also try something new! The British public are really bad for sticking to the same big 4- cod, haddock, salmon and tuna.

We are lucky where we are I can buy direct from the boat but there are more and more companies popping up which used to supply restaurants now supplying families all with UK caught and sustainable fish.

I don't have a lot of knowledge on it but was too was shocked and saddened,I think I would like to go vegetarian at very least

The fishing industry is barbaric, even if you don’t believe all the claims made in that documentary. It’s fine to take some of it with a pinch of salt, but the basic facts like the amount of damage done by trawlers and plastic waste left over can’t be argued with.

Common sense would tell anyone that large scale industrial fishing is going to be harmful to the environment even without watching things like this. Sometimes people just don’t give a shit as long as they can eat what they want. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to when it happens miles away in the oceans that people already know very little about, but that doesn’t make it ok.

I would say a fisherman will do everything possible not to loose a trawler net mainly because they cost a bomb!

There are many types of fishing methods not just bottom trawling.

There are good and bad practices in all food production (including vegetarian foods soya being one the most widely known). For anyone it's about doing the research yourself and finding out what your comfortable with.

@Scottishskifun

I've watched it and have a in depth understanding into aquaculture, fisheries and environmental impact (it was my degrees and part of a large chunk of my work).

It's very very skewed I can't call it a documentary as its not. Some aspects are correct in relation to dolphin and shark fin fishing. But large parts of it aren't and paints a picture that this is what every fishing vessel or farm is like. Its simply incorrect. There was no balance, no understanding of sustainable fishing or fish farming, no aquaponic systems etc etc.

The UK waters actually has some of the world's most recovered and sustainable fish stocks the med in comparison is one of the worst.

I suggest doing your own reading into sustainability.

Which parts would you say are incorrect?

I think like most things it’s a bit skewed/looks at the facts from one angle. But everyone reducing fish consumption wouldn’t hurt and the fishing industry/plastic in oceans is definitely problematic.

I don’t think James Cameron having a plant based food business is anything to worry about/makes the claims less believable. It’s not like he needs the money from this business/it’s not his only venture. I imagine he learned about the issues of eating meat and fish and decided to contribute his wealth and power to combat these issues by setting up a plant based food business and making documentaries to educate people (maybe exaggerating some facts to prove the overall point that these industries are bad news).
I think there would be more effective ways for him to increase his wealth if that’s what he wanted and he’s doing both the business and the programmes to try and make a difference. Maybe that’s naive.

@ElephantsNest claims about the there being no fish by 2048 for starters. They used an old research paper actually in areas where there is proper fisheries management stock are recovered so not the case. Even the author of the paper in 2006 has said this is the case......

Fish farming presented a completely skewed viewpoint. Yes some fish farms suffer diseases actually many do not. Its dependent on stocking densities and the system set up. Some use a natural based solution such as the introduction of native cleaner fish which naturally keep sealice under control. Create mussel beds within the area for filtering to keep the water naturally clear.
Sealice also by the way are naturally found in the sea and have been around for a very long time!

The estimation that 50% of plastics is fishing gear - actually its just made of tougher more robust material so whilst this reflects what's seen on the surface doesn't reflect the quick to break down into smaller particles and sink or stay within the water column.

I could go on but I would be here all day!

They used old studies/took studies statements out of context and presented it as a for drawn conclusion. This is not how scientific studies work or are meant to be used.