Movie Review - Seaspiracy

Director: Ali Tabrizi
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Ali Tabrizi, Richard O’Barry, Lucy Tabrizi, Peter Hammarstedt, Paul Watson
 
Description: Passionate about ocean life, a filmmaker sets out to document the harm that humans do to marine species – and uncovers alarming global corruption.

Review: Dolphin hunting in Tajii, illegal fishing boats in Liberian waters and ‘bluewashing’ of products. The environment is being degraded by our global personal consumption, but that is the solution? The documentary “Seaspiracy” shines a light on the plight of the oceans. Its important message is clear and although I knew the basic facts, a lot really shocked me.
The ocean has been a source of inspiration for director Ali Tabrizi since he was a child, which is why his passion project focuses on the eight million tons of plastic that humans sump into the ocean each year. The documentary features haunting footage of whales washing up on the southeast coast of England, with hundreds of pounds of plastic in their stomachs, the degraded undersea habitat, animations of the well-known plastic soup in the North Pacific Ocean and the effect on various fish populations.
Is consumer plastic now the cause of ocean pollution Tabrizi finds that consumers are far from being the biggest contributors to environmental pollution plastic straws make u only 0,03 percent of the plastic in the ocean. The biggest source of pollution is commercial fishing. Over 46 percent of the waste in the ocean is made up of fishing nets. Fishing tackle and fishing gear can be found in stranded whales. But there is more: 40 percent of the catch from fishing vessels is ‘bycatch’, or fish that are not marketable and are thrown back into the sea. Dead. This has shrunk fish populations, slowly making the undersea climate inhospitable. And only 1 percent of the world’s oceans are set aside as reserves where fishing is prohibited, and this should be increased to 40 percent, according to the experts, so that nature (and fisheries) can recover.
Tabrizi points out that labels for sustainable fishing, for example for tuna and other seafood, do not add much. A label ‘guarantees’ that the catch of the fish has not harmed marine mammals such as dolphins or other marine animals. But given the number of fishing boats, it it’s impossible to prove how the fish was caught. In fact, the marine Stewardship Council spends most of its money on licenses for its sustainability label (the recognizable blue MSC mark). A huge conflict of interest to indicate that the products are sustainable.
Tabrizi engages in conversations with a variety of experts, such as dolphin activist Ric O’Barry, journalist George Monbiot, marin biologist Sylvia Earle and Captain of Sea Shepherd Paul Watson. Tabrizi also makes a more personal approach by focusing on himself and his journey and adapting his habits. By doing so he emphasizes individual consume responses to what is actually a global, systemic problem. The core message of “Seaspiracy” is that saving the ocean requires a global effort, in which a political response is vital. And everything is well-translated to the audience.
I already adapted my lifestyle a long time ago, by becoming a vegetarian. Which means I don’t eat any animals. What “Cowspiracy” did for meat, “Seaspiracy” does for seafood. And if you still want to eat fish or visit sea aquariums after watching this, then you really didn’t get the message.

Rating: 4,5 / 5