{"id":185387,"date":"2021-05-24T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=185387"},"modified":"2021-05-20T06:43:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T05:43:34","slug":"seaspiracys-nightmarish-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/05\/seaspiracys-nightmarish-odyssey\/","title":{"rendered":"Seaspiracy\u2019s Nightmarish Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

1<\/em>6 May 2021 – <\/em>Seaspiracy is a powerful new documentary about the hazardous, unruly world of industrial fishing and stomach-churning abuse, overuse, disregard for life, as shown on Netflix, released by Disrupt Studios March 24th 2021.<\/p>\n

The opening scene of the film sets the tone with a long shot of an isolated fishing trawler at sea as the voice-over of a former fishing vessel crew member, who escaped forced slavery after 10 years non-stop at sea, exclaimed: \u201cWhen ships are in the middle of the ocean. When problems occur. They can throw you overboard into the sea. It is dangerous for you to make this documentary. There are many risks.\u201d A second escapee intones: \u201cIf you\u2019re scared of dying, go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The War Zone<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

War flattens terrain and kills. Based upon Seaspiracy\u2019s story, industrial commercial fishing fits this description to a tee.<\/p>\n

Above all else, the film depicts a war zone, bloody and creepy with myriad red-ish\/orange-ish streaked rusty hulls of cadaverous trawlers prowling, dropping gigantic nets, denuding entire seafloors, nothing escapes this creepy crawl in a dark otherworldliness of villainous shadowy Mafioso-type slave-infested fishing vessels that drop 10-mile nets or long-line fishing with enough hook-lines to wrap 500 times around the planet, on a daily basis. Nothing survives this war zone.<\/p>\n

According to Seaspiracy, fisheries crime is the same as transnational organized crime. The syndicates that operate behind the scenes of illegal fishing are the same as those behind drug trafficking and human trafficking.<\/p>\n

Fishery workers at sea are involved in the most dangerous jobs on Earth, 24,000 deaths per year. Slavery is commonplace, as for example, according to Seaspiracy; there are 51,000 fishing boats in Thailand waters under the Thai flag. Those boats are uneconomic without free cheap labor. Seaspiracy traveled to Bangkok to interview escaped fishing boat slaves: Some spent 10 years non-stop at sea. Nobody could get off the vessel with its hired guards, similar to the infamous overseers of the Deep South. One interviewee claimed the ship\u2019s captain used an iron bar as a weapon to control workers. Dead bodies were simply dropped overboard.<\/p>\n

This film captures horrific scenes of massive splashing bloody deaths behind industrialized commercial fishing, which is depicted as the preeminent issue of whether fish stock survives on planet Earth, 2.7 trillion caught per year, five million killed every minute. Global fish populations have plummeted, e.g., halibut -99%, cod -86% Bluefin tuna -97% haddock -99%. These are extinction-type numbers, as industrial fishing knows no limits. If current trends stay on track, by 2048, the oceans will be empty! Thereafter, the seas will emit strange sour odors as pitch-blackness gradually discolors, displaces its rich vibrancy of life.<\/p>\n

The oceans are home to 80% of all life on Earth, rapidly dwindling by the day as 4,600,000 commercial fishing vessels work away, many ethical, honest hard-working, but far-far-far too many violating international rules & regs, crime on the high seas, murdering difficult workers, as well as the death of law enforcement officers, but mostly, in the big picture, the slaughter of marine life by the tons, literally wiping out some species as Seaspiracy searched for impossible answers to a most difficult question: \u201cWhat is sustainable fishing\u201d?<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1Q5CXN7soQg&t=7s<\/p>\n

At its heart, Seaspiracy depicts the fishing war zone as epitomized by the callous slaughter of sharks. Sharks kill 10 people per year. The fishing industry kills 11,000-to-30,000 sharks per hour. Yes, per hour. Alarmingly, one-half of the kill is \u201cby-catch\u201d thrown overboard as waste by commercial fishing fleets, 50,000,000 sharks caught annually in nets, side by side with your favorite seafood, tossed overboard as waste or \u201cby-catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only that, but shark slaughter Phase 2 is \u201cshark-finning, a Mafioso directed enterprise of shark fins shipped to Asia, predominately China, for shark-fin soup, a status symbol that has no nutritional value and no special flavor, but can cost up to $100\/bowl. HK is known as Shark Fin City, where Seaspiracy\u2019s video cameras were decidedly pushed back by more than idle threats.<\/p>\n

Sharks are known as \u201capex predators\u201d at the very top of the food chain. Loss of sharks topples the entire marine food chain from the top down. Sharks keep the ocean healthy and maintain healthy fish stocks. Without sharks, the oceans turn into swamps. They are as important as dolphins and whales for the survival of the oceans.<\/p>\n

According to Seaspiracy calculations, shark species are crashing, thresher shark -80%, bull shark -86%, hammerhead shark -86%, overall, the total shark population is down by 80-99%. These are disturbing extinction-type numbers, comparable to the planet\u2019s worst extinction event, the Permian-Triassic of 250 million years ago that wiped out 95% of marine life. The planet is thus fast approaching an endpoint of \u2018extinction of the seas.\u2019 Obviously, a bigger question is how long does humanity hang in there?<\/p>\n

Inordinate shark deaths bring in their wake the death of almost all other ocean species. For example, the abundance of seabirds has declined 70%. Why? Marine predators such as sharks drive fish near the surface for feeding purposes where seabirds dive and grab dinner. No predators, no near-surface fish for seabirds to catch.<\/p>\n

As exposed in the film, several issues threaten total decimation or unmitigated deadening of the oceans. As a matter of fact, people comfortably seated at home see TV news items of whales washing up on beaches or turtles or birds strangled in netting or stomachs filled with plastic. Fishing nets are the single biggest cause of unintentional marine death because of industrialized fishing, as trawlers lose miles of netting. Forty-six percent (46%) of the notorious Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean consists of lost commercial fishing nets.<\/p>\n

As explained in Seaspiracy, whales and dolphins drown when caught in fishnets. Yet, they are integral to the survival of the ocean. When they surface to breathe, their excretion fertilizes tiny marine plants called phytoplankton which, on an annualized basis, absorbs 4x the amount of carbon dioxide as rainforests, keeping the oceans alive and serving as one of the planet\u2019s major sources of oxygen. Alas, according to Seaspiracy, \u201cOur oceans have turned into a toxic plastic soup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along the way, Seaspiracy discovered double-trouble for whales, as Japan resumed commercial whale hunting, heading out to Antarctica despite the worldwide ban since 1986. Not only Japan, but several countries have also been killing whales under the radar. The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986 because of \u201cextreme depletion of most of the whale stocks.\u201d Nevertheless, Japan and Iceland hunt under the guise of \u201cscientific whaling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seaspiracy discovered Japan\u2019s national fixation on whales and dolphins extends to mass slaughter in the south of the country at Taiji, where dolphins and small whales are rounded up for an annual kill-off. Japan\u2019s government attempts to cover up this slaughter or war on dolphins. Upon arrival at Taiji, Seaspiracy encountered pushback by police monitoring strangers with cameras.<\/p>\n

Taiji\u2019s annual dolphin slaughter: Fishermen bang poles against the hulls of their boats to herd the dolphins into a cove where they are slaughtered, every day during the duration of this bloody celebration. It\u2019s done under the guise of \u201cpest control.\u201d Dolphins, which are very smart mammals, are considered \u201ccompetition\u201d for the fishing industry. For years now, Japan has pointed the finger at the dolphins as \u201cthe culprits behind over-fishing.\u201d Yes, believe it or not, it is true.<\/p>\n

Seaspiracy hooked up with one of the few NGOs in the world that attempts to police the international illegal fishing trade named Sea Shepard, a nonprofit marine conservation group that works with governments to track down and arrest illegal fishing vessels, for example, in Liberia. According to Stefano Tricanico of Sea Shepard: \u201cWe have mostly international fleets coming from countries where they\u2019ve already depleted their own local stocks, and they\u2019re pushing further and further away to try and make up for that. And using more and more sophisticated technology to increase catch numbers. They are illegal, and they catch huge amounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Seaspiracy crew witnessed Sea Shepard and the Liberian Coast Guard track down illegal vessels, which are virtual floating slaughterhouses, blood everywhere in the water. In Liberian waters, they boarded a Chinese trawler with enormous quantities of illegally caught fish stored away in its hold. The vessel was detained and fined.<\/p>\n

Sea Shepherd travels the world policing violators of international rules. By and large, over 100 fishing regulations are not enforced. Shocking discoveries ensued as Seaspiracy discovered, for example, 10,000 dolphins are killed every year as \u201cby-catch\u201d just offshore France. Come to find out, the greatest threat to whales and dolphins is commercial fishing. Over 300,000 whales and dolphins are killed annually as \u201cby-catch\u201d and tossed aside into the sea.<\/p>\n

Even though many fisheries claim \u201cdolphin-free tuna,\u201d the authorities caught 2 tuna boats that caught killed 45 dolphins, tossed away, per 8 tunas kept and then claimed \u201cdolphin-free tuna.\u201d The vessel was working for \u201cDolphin Safe canned tuna.\u201d In turn, The Earth Island Institute is behind the Dolphin-safe labels. When Seaspiracy met with and interviewed Earth Island personnel, to their dismay, nobody really goes to sea to witness whether dolphin-safe is a reality. Earth Island admitted this and admitted that when they do send observers, they can be \u201cbribed\u201d into agreeing to label the catch as \u201cdolphin-free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earth Island, a non-for-profit observer of sea catch on behalf of the general public is paid to license their dolphin-safe label by the fishing industry. Along the way, they generally take the vessel captain\u2019s word for it that the catch is dolphin-free, meaning \u201cno dolphins killed during the catch.\u201d This is a bold-faced lie, hoodwinking consumers around the world.<\/p>\n

Based upon interviews of people in the know, the internationally recognized dolphin-free label is a fabrication, no guarantees according to a spokesperson at Earth Island.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pacific Bluefin tuna, with less than 3% remaining in the wild as a result of overfishing puts the $42 billion tuna industry at risk of imminent collapse, as a result of its own overfishing, fishing-out the most glorious fish of the sea, the queen of the sea, a powerful swimmer that crosses the Pacific Ocean in 55 days. Because of the plunging decline of the species, The Monterey Bay Aquarium (Ca) recommends that consumers say \u201cno thanks\u201d to restaurants that dare serve Pacific Bluefin tuna.<\/p>\n

According to an investigation by Seaspiracy, the Marine Stewardship Council (\u201cMSC\u201d), a nonprofit whose label is found on cans of fish on grocery store shelves, certifies fisheries that unfortunately produce astonishing levels of \u201cby-catch.\u201d MSC refused an interview to discuss \u201csustainable fishing.\u201d Unilever (owner of a seafood retailer) is a founder of MSC, which is the world\u2019s largest promoter of \u201csustainable fishing.\u201d In fact, 80% of MSC yearly income is from licensing its imprimatur on seafood as \u201csustainable catch.\u201d But, as Seaspiracy questioned, how can commercial fishing that includes 40% \u201cby-catch\u201d carry sustainable labeling?<\/p>\n

Is there such a thing as sustainable fishing?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Seaspiracy talked to Captain Paul Watson, former National Director of the Sierra Club who quit because \u201cthey didn\u2019t want to come out against fishing and hunting because they thought they would lose membership support.\u201d According to Watson, \u201cWell, first of all, there\u2019s no such thing. It\u2019s impossible. There\u2019s no such thing as a sustainable fishery. There\u2019s simply not enough fish to justify that. It\u2019s not sustainable, it\u2019s just a marketing phrase, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oceana is the world\u2019s largest marine conservation group. Oceana advocates sustainable fishing. But they could not define \u201csustainable\u201d when questioned by Seaspiracy about the meaning behind the phrase. Yet, they\u2019re one of the world\u2019s biggest advocates: \u201cEat sustainable fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the issue of whether \u201csustainable fishing\u201d is even a reality, another very serious issue is the impact of commercial bottom trawling, as vessels cast 10-mile nets scooping up everything in sight. This form of extracting fish, also deforests the oceans. Seaspiracy interviewed Richard Oppenlander who informed them \u201cbottom trawling by big fishing boats wipes out 3.9 billion acres of underwater life forms every year. Equivalent to wiping out the land area of Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Iran, Thailand and Australia combined, every year.\u201d Marine plants per acre store 20 times more carbon than forests on land. Most of the planet\u2019s CO2 is stored with help of marine vegetation, algae, and coral.<\/p>\n

Fishing vessels are death machines that mop up the basis of the whole marine food chain. Which also removes a source of nutrients for coral reefs, which feed off fish excrement. As it happens, commercial fishing has become a major threat for coral reefs around the world. For example, 90% of the large fish which prospered in the Caribbean coral reefs through0ut the past 1,000 years are now gone.<\/p>\n

Seaspiracy, in search of a sense of relief, made the decision to look at fish farming with its eco-satisfying reputation. After all, 50% of the world\u2019s seafood now comes from fish farms. Scotland is one of the world\u2019s leading producers of farm salmon. Seaspiracy discovered issues. Fish farming requires enormous quantities of fish oil and fishmeal that comes from wild fish. So, in essence, fish farming lives off the catch of wild fish. Seaspiracy met with Dan Staniford, a whistleblower that exposed the problem of severe sea lice infestations in the farms. The crew filmed salmon being eaten alive by sea lice parasites, which, according to Staniford, is common in fish farms worldwide. Additionally, and kind of icky to consider, each fish farm in Scotland produces organic waste equal to a town of 10-20,000 people. Thus, salmon restrained in confined fish farms swim in their own feces.<\/p>\n

According to Dan Staniford, 50% of salmon in fish farms die from anemia, lice infestation, chlamydia, heart disease, \u201cSalmon farming is a waste of resources.\u201d As explained by Staniford, farm salmon without colorants added to the feed would be completely gray. The pinkish coloration is artificial.<\/p>\n

After discovering so many serious issues with the commercial industry, Seaspiracy decided to checkout marine protected areas. An expert on the subject informed them that yes, there are ocean-protected areas. Presently, 5% of the oceans are marine protected areas, but that is misleading. Over 90% of those protected areas still allow fishing on a sustainable basis. In reality, less than 1% of the oceans are being regulated via marine protected areas.<\/p>\n

Seaspiracy interviewed Dr. Sylvia Earl, founder of Mission Blue and founder of Deep Ocean Exploration and Research. According to Dr. Earl, based upon current commercial fishing activities, \u201cby the middle of this century, commercial fishing will cease to exist because there won\u2019t be enough fish to catch.\u201d<\/p>\n

In support of Dr. Earl\u2019s statement, in the middle of the North Sea in the mid 19th century, a typical fishing boat (one vessel) would catch one to two tons of halibut per day. Today, the entire fishing fleet at the same location catches two tons of halibut per year.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Robert Hunziker, MA Economic History DePaul University, member Pi Gamma Mu International Academic Honor Society in Social Sciences, freelance writer and environmental journalist, has over 200 articles published, including several translated into foreign languages, appearing in over 50 journals, magazines, and sites worldwide. He has been interviewed on numerous FM radio programs, as well as television.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – pessenza.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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