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?

I watched this yesterday. Its OK. I'm not a vegetarian but I was shocked at how ruthless the fishing industry is on a world wide scale. My issue with the program is that it looks as a 1st year uni essay. It's as if he made the documentary as he was doing the research rather than construct his narrative and edit accordingly once he had all his facts. There were at least 3 one hour episodes in there all crammed down to basic highlights to get our attention. The issues raised were interesting but I'd have liked some balance and some more discussion rather than 'I was shocked' now here's another fact to shock you.

Thanks @Scottishskifun - you’ve confirmed what I suspected - that it isn’t a rigorous analysis. Of course it makes good TV.

Is the criticism of the dolphin friendly label justified do you think? DD sorted out the tins of so called dolphin friendly tuna in our kitchen cupboards after watching and we decided yesterday that once we’d eaten what we already had in stock, we would stop buying tuna altogether.

@ElephantsNest no I don't think it is as it only showed bad practices and not a balanced piece.
Companies do however put a lot of time and money into checking so they can be accurate. When there is multiple vessels it can be difficult but you can also bet that companies will be double checking as a result. Generally if its line caught tuna and stated so on the tin then it will be dolphin friendly due to the fish method.

@Scottishskifun thank you for finally posting some facts about this documentary. I'm stunned by the number or friends who seem to have jumped to 'fish is evil' after such a blatantly skewed documentary.

In your experience, what's the most sustainable way of eating fish/seafood?

That’s a good point - I had forgotten about the line caught fishing technique.

I don’t eat fish and I try to reduce my plastic consumption too

I am taking this with a huge pinch of salt, but one thing that gets me is this

If they aren’t ashamed of their actions, why are they afraid of being filmed?

@StylishMummy the most sustainable way is to eat local/UK fish but know where it comes from. A good fish monger or ordering a fish box directly from a boat/fish company is usually a good way to understand where its come from.
Trying different and sustainable fish types rather than sticking to the big 4 the MSC has useful information about different species and ratings. Many people are put off by the name or appearance of a fish in the UK which is bonkers.

Source creel langoustines or UK brown shrimp rather than King prawns from Thailand.

I only have scallops if they are hand dived but they are very expensive so I rarely have them. Razor clams are a great alternative just only cook them for a matter of seconds!

Pretty much all mussel farms are extremely sustainable and next to zero impact and generally pretty cheap so these are a great source.

UK crab species is also very sustainable. Bizarrely so is king crab as its ice fished and a pest in certain parts as it was an introduced species.

@Soubriquet would you be happy to be filmed for a skewed "documentary"?
Some of what was presented is very bad practices but it's also not the full picture of all communities the complexity and how to solve the issues. It's also not representative of all fishing industry and practises.

It also failed to take into account the number of communities who are reliant on fishing as a income and food source.
There has always been good and bad practices for instance dynamite fishing used to be very common practise in parts of the Pacific until local scale tourism projects could be started which directed away from dynamite fishing to protecting the reef system for divers. There is still illegal dynamite fishing in areas but not as much.

In the Falklands (a huge squid fishery area) you have to have a licence and the vessel has to be inspected for workers conditions and rights as well as offer them to leave the vessel (their was incidents of basically slave labour).

It's good that you take it with a pinch of salt there is no way mainstream broadcasters could even show it as it breaks too many of the broadcasters code for instance.

No I guess not

It’s hers though because a lot of this is very believable even if you don’t take it to heart

hard

And the scene with the grind of pilot whales is heartbreaking

Yes it definitely highlights some practises which are illegal or if not in that area are very morally questionable whale and shark fin is a prime example.

For some communities whale hunting is a means of survival the inuit communities for example and is done in a sustainable way. But for others it's a status meat driven by demand despite global whale ban sadly not all countries signed up and Japan are well known for flouting.

I don't agree with whale meat if on a commercial/large scale its not necessary but nor would I tell an inuit community their practice is completely wrong as for them it's part of surviving where they live.

@covetingthepreciousthings

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?

They are taught about it in some schools at least. I teach about fish farming and intensive rearing of animals to my students so it is on the curriculum and has been for over a decade so its not something new, although it is only a small part. I show them videos of fish farms and it definitely puts them off eating fish for a few days at least! I love teaching about it as it brings up so much discussion. We also do projects about the environment and many students in the past have chosen to do about ocean plastics.

@Hummingbird18 do you also present a balanced view of aquaponic fish systems, recirculation fish farming systems with seaweed or plant pond filtration or low density multi approach sea systems?

I really hope you do as there are many sustainable methods no just fish farms are bad!

[quote Scottishskifun]@Hummingbird18 do you also present a balanced view of aquaponic fish systems, recirculation fish farming systems with seaweed or plant pond filtration or low density multi approach sea systems?

I really hope you do as there are many sustainable methods no just fish farms are bad![/quote]
We look at different types of fish farms e.g. having net enclosures in the sea or having tanks in land. Then methods of oxygenation such as air pumps, water plants, feeding methods, use of antibiotics, predation, selective breeding, GM fish, spread of disease, waste production. I also show recent news articles of when farmed fish have escaped into the wild. I try to give a balanced view but unfortunately there's not always enough time to fully explore when the curriculum is so exam driven nowadays. And it's been cut out completely this year due to covid ☹️

@Hummingbird18 that's a shame it got cut this year aquaponic systems are great land based options with full recycle system for plant production and fish production.

Seaweed systems filter water for reuse in the tanks and grow a crop for sale for use in different industries

There is a lot of work into more sustainable fish farming methods and aiming towards lower impact with lots of natural methods used they don't always get heard about.

Mussel rope farms are also one of the most sustainable and low carbon food production methods around.

What's the most sustainable way to source food for the fish in fish farms?

@Syeknom

What's the most sustainable way to source food for the fish in fish farms?

Depends on the fish species to what diet they need and where that comes from.

Many fish feed producers use byproduct from left over production from the human market to produce the food so nothing is wasted. Things like byproduct from filleting fish or making smoked mackerel fillets etc.

The rules are strict though so farmed fish products can't be reused for farmed fish again.
There is also research into alternative product sources.
Most farmed species have a good yield capacity (amount of food required for equivalent weight in fish). Farmed prawns are not great yield and there are many farms with bad practices (not all)

@Scottishskifun

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.

Soya is the primary feed for cows, pigs, chicken and farmed fish.

75% of all soya grown globally is used as animal feed. 6% is eaten by humans.

(Source: grow your own magazine, April edition)

The 'problem' with soya is in producing enough to feed animals, not humans.

@AppleJane apologies my specialism is more on fish!
But the statement still stands there is good and bad practices with all food production including vegetables and a vegetarian diet which is more or less environmental impact. Unless they have improved almond production in the last 8 years (it's been a while since I looked into the data) then the water consumption required for production is astronomical for example

Ultimately intensive farming of anything is bad news.

That's what has gone wrong....putting profit above everything else.

The best we can individually do is stick to finding small, local, ethical producers of things we want. Avoid processed foods. Eat seasonally and what can be produced in our country and it's waters.

That's not to say I'm perfect at that by the way but what we're trying to do more and more of.

We've now got a relationship with a local farmer who has a small herd of cows (like 10-15), a local dairy farmer, people from around our community who have chickens for eggs, grow some of our own veg.

Still a long way to go (finding a fish supplier for a start!)

What is the most common food stock used? If they are using soya are they then supplementing with other fish oil?

If you Google UK ethical fishmonger you get quite a few options that will supply if (like us) you don't live near the coast.

When you see the prices of ethically sourced sustainable, UK fish though you realise how much of what you're eating cant possibly be any of those things...

@wheresmymojo

When you see the prices of ethically sourced sustainable, UK fish though you realise how much of what you're eating cant possibly be any of those things...

If buying not on the coast then yes its expensive there are cheaper options mussels being one of them.

I mostly buy direct from our local small boats which is actually pretty cheap but I'm lucky in that I live by the coast.

@syeknom generally the most common food stock used in fish feed is fishmeal from wild sources but often from byproduct but this is dependent on the company. There is a lot of money that goes into the research to come up with other recipe which is suitable including plant based but its been several years since I was up to date with the developments on it. It's a whole nutritional specialism in itself!