I went into this well aware of most of what's in it, but I will admit that I was impressed at some of the research and the effective way issues and industry ties are exposed.
I thought I was already a very aware consumer, but it was news to me to see the scale of how bad every part of the global fishing industry is, and quite depressing to see the absolute sham of sustainability and blue-washing (lies) at every level. Dolphin-safe and eco-certification labels are a marketing scam, with no credibility whatsoever. The slavery aspect was no surprise but the numbers involved, and astonishing prevalence of murder, are hair-raising.
The narrative follows a logical path, and I appreciate that they also connected the dots to other environmental issues directly impacted and reliant upon the state of the seas.
If you've read this far, I want to repeat that this an illuminating and important investigation, and definitely worth watching. And now I feel I also need to mention some problems I had.
The production of the whole thing is a little amateurish and naive. It feels harsh to criticise such a well-intentioned and important film which has obviously had a lot of hard work put into it, but I have to say I was ready to turn off by the 10-15 minute mark. I was finding it too slow, and the narration/presentation is too naive and credulous for me. Although many viewers will need to be taken through step-by-step from scratch (knowing nothing), that's not me and it felt a bit like a reading a child's picture-book. There are ways to educate without dumbing down. I particularly don't like it when a presenter plays dumb, pretending to realise quite obvious things or (for me) quite well-known issues and situations (like the Japanese dolphin slaughter, or disgusting shark fin trade) and be shocked and upset when he clearly knows everything about it already. Reluctant to just turn off, I realised that Netflix lets me watch at 1.5x speed and that improved things significantly. It's still completely watchable, and I became less annoyed at some of the documentary editing clichés because they just fly by. I don't think there's an actual shot of him emotively sobbing on camera, but it comes close a couple of times. It's also unusual in 2021 to see any sort of documentary without any high-quality super-smooth drone shots (especially since they did quite a bit of globetrotting). Not vital, but there's all the other B-roll and editing tricks which seem to be obligatory. The graphics are perfectly fine though.
There's also an annoying naivety where they've tried to get access to these nefarious companies. It is painfully obvious that this film is not made or produced to the level of a BBC (high quality) investigation piece, and they don't have the credibility, power, chutzpah or guile to get any real responses, whether that's admissions or evasions. I did not need to waste time seeing the least senior PR at Mitsubishi batting them away like a fly, nor was I surprised that most companies just ignored them.
That's not to say that other interviews and interviewees are not worthwhile; they do have some excellent insight from important people on the opposite side of this sordid business, including many who are working to monitor and expose not just the scandalous practices of the known bad-guy producers, but also the hypocrisy and lies of the charities, agencies and so-called eco-friendly and sustainable producers who pretend to be the good guys. This for me is one of the most commendable things about the film.
The final section is quite interesting because although it is (briefly) hard to watch, a short interview does present a real ethical challenge for viewers.
I highly recommend this film because I think it's important that people learn what's happening, at what scale, and you will definitely have an emotional response when you understand all of what's going on. I can think of ways I would tighten-up and trim maybe 20 minutes without losing anything, and a few things I could add or expand upon, but don't let my criticism stop you. Everyone should watch this.
I thought I was already a very aware consumer, but it was news to me to see the scale of how bad every part of the global fishing industry is, and quite depressing to see the absolute sham of sustainability and blue-washing (lies) at every level. Dolphin-safe and eco-certification labels are a marketing scam, with no credibility whatsoever. The slavery aspect was no surprise but the numbers involved, and astonishing prevalence of murder, are hair-raising.
The narrative follows a logical path, and I appreciate that they also connected the dots to other environmental issues directly impacted and reliant upon the state of the seas.
If you've read this far, I want to repeat that this an illuminating and important investigation, and definitely worth watching. And now I feel I also need to mention some problems I had.
The production of the whole thing is a little amateurish and naive. It feels harsh to criticise such a well-intentioned and important film which has obviously had a lot of hard work put into it, but I have to say I was ready to turn off by the 10-15 minute mark. I was finding it too slow, and the narration/presentation is too naive and credulous for me. Although many viewers will need to be taken through step-by-step from scratch (knowing nothing), that's not me and it felt a bit like a reading a child's picture-book. There are ways to educate without dumbing down. I particularly don't like it when a presenter plays dumb, pretending to realise quite obvious things or (for me) quite well-known issues and situations (like the Japanese dolphin slaughter, or disgusting shark fin trade) and be shocked and upset when he clearly knows everything about it already. Reluctant to just turn off, I realised that Netflix lets me watch at 1.5x speed and that improved things significantly. It's still completely watchable, and I became less annoyed at some of the documentary editing clichés because they just fly by. I don't think there's an actual shot of him emotively sobbing on camera, but it comes close a couple of times. It's also unusual in 2021 to see any sort of documentary without any high-quality super-smooth drone shots (especially since they did quite a bit of globetrotting). Not vital, but there's all the other B-roll and editing tricks which seem to be obligatory. The graphics are perfectly fine though.
There's also an annoying naivety where they've tried to get access to these nefarious companies. It is painfully obvious that this film is not made or produced to the level of a BBC (high quality) investigation piece, and they don't have the credibility, power, chutzpah or guile to get any real responses, whether that's admissions or evasions. I did not need to waste time seeing the least senior PR at Mitsubishi batting them away like a fly, nor was I surprised that most companies just ignored them.
That's not to say that other interviews and interviewees are not worthwhile; they do have some excellent insight from important people on the opposite side of this sordid business, including many who are working to monitor and expose not just the scandalous practices of the known bad-guy producers, but also the hypocrisy and lies of the charities, agencies and so-called eco-friendly and sustainable producers who pretend to be the good guys. This for me is one of the most commendable things about the film.
The final section is quite interesting because although it is (briefly) hard to watch, a short interview does present a real ethical challenge for viewers.
I highly recommend this film because I think it's important that people learn what's happening, at what scale, and you will definitely have an emotional response when you understand all of what's going on. I can think of ways I would tighten-up and trim maybe 20 minutes without losing anything, and a few things I could add or expand upon, but don't let my criticism stop you. Everyone should watch this.