Today is United Nations World Oceans Day.
Please watch this one minute trailer for The End of the Line, a new documentary that has just been released:
A few weeks ago, I met Charles Clover, a British journalist and the author of the 2004 book on which this film is based. He's intensely determined to spread the word about overfishing and why we all need to sit up and pay attention.
In honor of World Oceans Day, Clover agreed to share his insights here on 5 Second Rule.
Cheryl: What is your mission with The End of the Line, both the book and the film?
Charles Clover: To get fishermen to realise [that] informed customers want sustainable seafood. And more and more consumers are getting informed.
Cheryl: What is the greatest misunderstanding about the current state of marine life, and our oceans, in general?
Charles Clover: That this is not a big issue.
Overfishing is up there with climate change and human population growth as one of the big issues of our time - and related to both. We are running out of food and scientists now tell us that healthy fish populations keep the ocean absorbing carbon.
Cheryl: Why aren't more people concerned about these issues? Is it lack of knowledge? Lack of media attention? Lack of interest?
Charles Clover: Lack of knowledge, I think, which we have tried to rectify in the film. When people know, they vote with their feet, like these celebrities who saw the film and are threatening to boycott Nobu if he doesn't stop selling bluefin tuna.
Cheryl: Is there a particular part of the world where people and marine life are most at risk from overfishing? Where?
Charles Clover: The EU, for reasons of criminal stupidity and policy failure, ie. the bluefin tuna and the cod, which would be regarded as a fisheries disaster in the US. Places like the South Java Sea, where people are hungry and they go on a fishing boat for food, even if they have no money, which is the most tragic thing of all for the fish.
Cheryl: If the average western diner could make one single change in his/her fish-eating habits, what would it be?
Charles Clover: Don't eat endangered fish, i.e. bluefin tuna.
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How can you learn more?
1. See the documentary. A list of early screenings for The End of the Line is here. If you miss the film in the theater, go to Netflix and save it to your queue. I've already saved it to mine.
2. Read Clover's op-ed in last Friday's Wall Street Journal and get a hold of his 2004 book.
3. Take a look at journalist Samuel Fromartz's June 6 post on his blog Chews Wise, in which he poses the question: What should Nobu do about the controversy surrounding bluefin tuna?
4. Download a Seafood Watch card and shove it in your wallet. If a species is "red-lined," please avoid it in supermarkets and restaurants.
5. Spread the word. Throw this post, or the film's You Tube trailer, up on your Facebook and Twitter pages.
Thanks for reading.
