Saw this film last night & it is truly a must-see. 90% of the big fish in the world's oceans are gone! Largely due to our all-powerful & merciless bottom of the ocean scraping technology.
there was something in the film about China hugely over-reporting their catch numbers for many years, which made it look like there were plenty of fish left to catch. (communist party officials)
the reality is their catch numbers have been going down the whole time... which dramatically effects the total world picture. in the film they point out that it's pointless to quibble over 80%/90% anyway... the effect on the ecosystems in our ocean is catastrophic. the vast nets the industry uses are almost completely indiscriminate, especially when bottom-trawling. they pick up coral, turtles, whales, dolphins... & everything that's not the target catch is thrown back over the side of the boat, dead. reduced to mere 'commodities', like so many other living things nowadays.
vast stretches of the ocean are "plowed" 7 times a year or so... leaving very little life able to rebuild in their wake. finally, when the huge corporate boats plunder marine life in this way, it leaves increasingly little for small fishing communities in 'developing nations' to catch & sustain themselves with. anyway... the film's stock footage of so many delicate, fascinating ocean creatures living their lives, often in families, is so beautiful... it's especially heartbreaking to think of them being so brutally, wantonly, & systematically destroyed in this way. ...