For better or worse, the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy has introduced a wider audience to many of the challenges facing our global oceans. While the film presents a broad overview of the threats, it paints many of these issues with too broad of a brushstroke to effectively convey the complexity of what’s happening in our oceans.
The film’s overly simplified look at the fishing industry and fisheries, for example, fails to acknowledge the many small-scale fishermen who support sustainability and work hard to improve fishing regulations and ocean management to ensure they can deliver nutritious, healthy seafood to millions of people without harm to ocean health.
Our friends and partners at the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association have thoughtfully pulled together helpful resources to better inform people about the topics raised in the documentary. In particular, we recommend viewing the MCFA-hosted panel discussion with fishing and fisheries experts to provide a well-rounded look at the issues addressed in the film.
- Read “Seaspiracy: A seafood response”, from the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.
- Watch the panel discussion about the film, or see the embedded version of the video below.
We don’t need to boycott seafood to create healthy oceans. In fact, when you get a fishing license to reel one in yourself or when you buy local seafood caught by small-scale fishing families, you’re contributing to ocean conservation AND using your economic power wisely. The Network and our members strive everyday to improve management of our oceans to better conserve marine resources and habitat so that people and ocean wildlife can thrive. The science-based fisheries management system used in the U.S. has proven to be a successful model for ensuring the long-term health of fish populations. We can continue to uphold conservation-minded management approaches and build on its success so that our oceans will sustain us for generations to come.
