Seaspiracy is a Netflix documentary released in March 2021. The film is about the impact of industrial fishing on our environment. Ali Tabrizi is in the lead role and he is also the director of the film. The film is a great piece of investigative journalism that tries to expose various aspects of the massive fishing industry. The documentary has triggered conversations all around the world.

The film starts with Ali setting out to learn about the climate change impact happening on marine life and how we as humans are affecting the oceans. He then finds out that plastic waste is a huge problem and we have dense areas over the ocean where there are huge plastic waste islands. Then he continues to figure out that the real threat to marine life other than plastics is excessive industrial fishing. Commercial fishing is causing a huge impact on the lives of various marine animals but it is also impacting the ocean's ecosystems and depleting them which in turn has a negative impact on the earth's environment.

Following are some key takeaways from the film:

Commercial fishing is a significant contributor to the degradation of the oceans: All the fishing equipment used in commercial fishing is made from plastics and longline fishing lines set enough fishing lines that can wrap around the earth 500 times and they do this in a single day. Some of this fishing gear is discarded into the ocean and research shows that around 10% of all the plastic waste floating around in the ocean comes from commercial fishing. The commercial fishing technique known as trawling causes huge loss to the ocean floors as they drag large nets on the ocean floor which destroys all the natural plants and corals on ocean floors. Also, every year industrial fishing kills more than 300,000 whales and dolphins in the process to catch other fish. These unfortunately captured fishes are known as “bycatch”. When the fisherman returns these fishes to the sea they are dead or are on the verge of dying. Sea turtles are also impacted by these and an estimated 250,000 of them are captured, injured, or killed because of these fishing boats. 50 million sharks are also killed in this manner every year. As the apex predator sharks are depleting in number it is causing a ripple effect in the ocean ecosystem. This is disturbing whole oceanic food chains.

The fishing industry causes loss of Human lives: The fisherman working on these boats are sometimes working in very difficult conditions. An estimated 24,000 fisherman do not return from the sea every year. The documentary has also exposed slavery practices in some countries where fishermen are trapped on fishing boats and are forced to work. They are made to work against their will and are threatened that they will be killed if they do not obey.

Labels can not be trusted: The film has exposed many official organizations which provide authentication labels to the fishing industry. The certified sustainable label given to fisheries does not imply that they are fully enforcing all rules and regulations. A large number of bycatch which is caught when the fishing boats lay down the nets is considered okay and you can still get the “Certified Sustainable'' stamp. The “Dolphin Safe'' label found on tuna cans can’t guarantee that no dolphins were killed in the process of catching the tuna.

The film suggests a simple answer to these problems that is “Cut out fish consumption from your diet”. If you can find alternatives to fish consumption you will decrease the overall demand for commercial fishing which in turn decreases the overall commercial fishing.

All in all, it is a great film and definitely makes you think about the world we live in. It also encourages us to take action. So if you have 90 min to spare I would definitely recommend you watch the documentary and convey your thoughts in the comments below.