* The End of the Line – The Dire Truth About an Ocean Without Fish
| The End of the Line – the dire truth about an ocean without fish |
| Sunday, 08 August 2010 07:10 |
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Feature by Adrian Drago ‘We are fighting a war against fish. And we are winning!……. People say where are the fish gone? Where are they? We have eaten them!’ These are some of the grim comments made in the film ‘The End of the Line’ directed by Rupert Murray, narrating the sad reality of an ocean that will soon be depleted of fish due to overfishing and bad fishing practices, and putting the emphasis on a misinformed society that hardly reacts to this threatening situation. The End of The Line is the winner of the One World Media Environment Award 2010, and is the world’s first major documentary about marine environmental devastation caused by the irresponsible actions of mankind. The film was screened on occasion of World Oceans Day on 8th June at the Elysium Visitor’s Centre at Gaia Foundation (Ghajn Tuffieha) in an event organized by Nature Trust (Malta) and Friends of the Earth Malta in collaboration with the Gaia Foundation.  ? Screenshot from the film highlighting the pile of devastation awaiting to be consumed at a fish market A good number of followers from the two NGOs attended and shared the discussion on the main issues raised by the film. Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048. Malta is mentioned in the film as the location of excellence in bluefin tuna catches. The film points the responsibility upon consumers who continue to buy and eat endangered fish, upon politicians that are reluctant to address the warnings of scientists, upon fishermen who fish illegally and irresponsibly surpass allowed catch quotas and, upon the global fishing industry that shall crumble upon its own greed and disrespect to life in the oceans. The film proposes simple and doable solutions: fishing must be controlled by reducing the number of fishing capacity across the world; large areas of the ocean need to be protected through a larger network of marine reserves; consumers must be educated and provided with information so that they can choose to buy and consume fish from independently certified sustainable fisheries. The evening was opened by short descriptions of current activities by Nature Trust (Malta) and Friends of the Earth Malta. Greg Nowell from Sharklab (Malta) gave a general overview on research of Mediterranean sharks and briefed the audience about a detailed marine survey at Ghajn Tuffieha Bay to be conducted in collaboration with the GAIA Foundation over 3 consecutive weekends to act as a snapshot of life within the bay. |
