Films to Watch
Stories have the power to spread a message by engaging the audience on an emotional and personal level. The below films expose the forces behind the seafood industry and its devastating effects on people and marine life alike.
The documentary Ghost Fleet depicts in gruesome detail the plight of men who have essentially been kidnapped under false pretenses of job opportunities to be stripped of their identity and drafted into slave labor at sea. Such forced labor is particularly prevalent in regions of economic instability and civil unrest. Ghost Fleet also follows the efforts of the brave members of the Labor Protection Network led by Patima Tungpuchayakul as they tirelessly work to rescue lives and end slavery at sea.
The short film MURDER AT SEA follows the suspicious deaths of fisheries observers and demonstrates the inherent risks and lack of protection for this cohort brought on by political corrupt entities that see this occupation as a direct threat to the multi-billion dollar industry.
The documentary The Last Ocean exposes a famous example of fish mislabelling. They follow the story of an international fishing fleet in the Ross Sea that makes a fortune catching Antarctic Toothfish and selling to upscale restaurants under the alias “Chilean Sea Bass”— A catch so valuable it is referred to as white gold.
The documentary Sharkwater Extinction exposes the industries driving the slaughter and consumption of sharks. From cosmetics to dietary supplements to meat entrees, learn more about the unexpected products that contain sharks and the growing list of code names for shark meat that continue to threaten the survival of this species.
Seaspiracy—a 2021 documentary on Netflix—addresses the ethics and sustainability of eating seafood and dives into the immense effect of the fishing industry on our world’s oceans.