Seaspiracy: Cowspiracy Makers To Debut New Documentary On Netflix Exposing Fishing Industry’s Destruction

A new Netflix documentary is set to shed light on the enormous environmental impact of the global fishing industry. Set to launch in late March, Seaspiracy will take a deep dive into the destruction the industry is having on our marine ecosystems, its role in fuelling plastic pollution, and challenges the concept of “sustainable fishing” in a documentary billed as a must-watch by “anyone who cares about the ocean and their future”. 

Created by the producers behind the award-winning 2014 documentary Cowspiracy, which has been credited for massively elevating awareness of the link between climate change and animal agriculture, the soon-to-be-released Seaspiracy is slated to deliver the same eye-opening experience to the global fishing industry. 

Read: It’s time to reconsider seafood – here’s what you need to know about the global fishing industry

Set to air globally on March 24 on Netflix, executive producer Kip Andersen describes the film’s topic as the “the most important missing piece in the environmental puzzle”, adding that “anyone who cares about the ocean and their future must watch this film.” 

Director Ali Tabrizi says that during the making of the movie, the team was taken by surprise, having previously underestimated the enormity of what they were going to uncover. 

“I’ve been fascinated by the ocean for as long as I can remember,” Tabrizi remarks in the official trailer for the film. “But this romantic vision that I always had of the ocean completely changed. I was forced to confront a side of the story I never knew.” 

Read: Is seafood more planet-friendly than meat? The answer isn’t so simple – we explain why

In a written message, the Seaspiracy team said: “This film will radically transform the way we think and act on ocean conservation forever. It is time we focus our ecological and ethical concerns on our seas and its inhabitants. This is a new era for how we treat the most important habitat on earth.” 

Longtime marine activist Gary Stokes, the Hong Kong-based founder of NGO OceansAsia Gary Stokes who features in the film told Green Queen he “is so glad it’s finally coming out”. A professional photographer and diving instructor, Stokes previously served as the Director of Sea Shepherd Asia during which he became a skilled investigator and worked to expose the shark fin industry.

If Seaspiracy will have as much of an impact as Cowspiracy, then it’s set to change hearts and minds about what humanity is doing to our oceans – especially due to rising rates of unsustainable consumption of seafood that is propping up the fishing industry. 

While the recent spotlight as fallen on the enormous emissions attributable to livestock farming, less attention has been paid to the environmental atrocities related to fishing, with commercial fishing operations responsible for almost 50% of the ocean plastic waste, the loss of non-targeted species like dolphins and sea turtles in bycatch, and the very real threat of wiping out all our ocean fish stocks by 2048.

Lead image courtesy of Seaspiracy / Netflix.