Seaspiracy - A Shock to the System (full documentary)

directed by and starring Ali Tabrizi, a British filmmaker.

Seaspiracy hit the headlines a few months ago as it exposed some of the devastating activities taking place in our fishing industry. Thousands of individuals took to social media to express their shock and sadness at the destruction that is occurring without our knowledge in the ocean. Many described the documentary as an ‘eyeopener’ and ‘life changing’ whilst others stated they would cut back or even totally eliminate fish from their diet. The shocking and controversial documentary was made by the team who created the award-winning Cowspiracy and is narrated and filmed by Ali Tabrizi. He sets out to discover more about the global fishing industry but finds a web of alarming and illegal practices taking place, meaning the documentary goes a lot further than simply focussing on seafood. Whether you are in two minds as to whether to watch this documentary or just haven’t found the time yet, here is a run down of Ali’s journey across the world highlighting the most pressing issues he uncovered.
The programme starts by reminding us that 80% of all life on Earth resides in the ocean, making the destruction we are causing to this ecosystem even more disturbing. His first trip takes him to a Japanese town called Taiji where dolphins are known to be herded into the cove by fishermen. Even an outsider simply visiting the town caused the police to be notified as the fishing industry is so keen to have their activities remain under the radar. Ali and his partner did however manage to capture footage of hundreds of dolphins being driven into the cove by boats before the mammals were devastatingly killed. Seaspiracy stated that the reason for this is pest control, as fishermen believe that dolphins form a large competitor to the ocean’s tuna stocks which are a highly valuable catch in the markets. Whilst it is thought fishermen may have believed this in the past, others have since commented that this area of Japan has a long history of whaling and the local practice is simply continuing. Yet others state that dolphin meat is not a popular delicacy in Japan and that the large scale drive hunting taking place there today contradicts the traditional hunting methods where relatively few animals were taken. It may be that many dolphins are caught and kept alive and sent to marine parks which are far more profitable. Whichever scenario is true, the killing or entrapment of dolphins, or any marine mammal, is devastating to our oceans. These large creatures form some of the largest predators in the food chain and reducing their numbers could massively impact the rest of our aquatic life. Unlike fish, mammals are also slower to reproduce, making it much more difficult for a population to recover from overharvesting.