More fish related viewing

You wait years for one decent fish related documentary to appear, then two come at once! As I blogged yesterday, I was impressed with The Deadline as a ecological awareness film. Last night I was chatting to Christo Hird, the producer behind many recent big documentaries such as Black Gold, who chaired my Louis Theroux Presents…event. He’d just arrived back from the Sundance Film Festival where one of his films – The End of the Line was in the world documentary competition. Trailer below.

To quote from the film’s website:

Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without
seafood. Imagine the global consequences. This is the future if we do
not stop, think and act.

In the film we see firsthand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food.

It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by
increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life
resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound
implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain
mass starvation.

Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative
reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity
restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing
to the oceans.

One of his allies is the former tuna farmer turned whistleblower
Roberto Mielgo – on the trail of those destroying the world’s
magnificent bluefin tuna population.

Filmed across the world – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the
coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market – featuring top
scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials,
The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world.

Crikey…Think about that the next time you buy a tuna sandwich.

The two docos obviously approach the issue of overfishing from different angles but I see a strong trend in eco-docs in the coming years.