The groundbreaking 2021 Netflix Original documentary, Seaspiracy, follows acclaimed British cinematographer and conservationist Ali Tabrizi’s journey as he discovers the true cost that commercial fishing is having on the sea, and what we stand to lose if we continue to allow this industry to run rampant across our blue planet.
“There’s no getting around the idea that the fishing industry is the biggest player when it comes to the state of the oceans. Things like plastic straws or microplastics or CO2, just kind of pale into insignificance when it comes to the fishing industry,” Ali says.
Seaspiracy was an undeniable success — trending on social media it clocked up six billion online impressions in its first two weeks, it ranked amongst the top Netflix movies in 50 countries, and set Google search result records for terms like ‘sustainability’ and ‘ocean conservation’.
For many, Seaspiracy was the first time they even really started to think about the ocean in this kind of way. We’d been used to seeing David Attenborough-style documentaries, highlighting the beauty of the oceans in lovely, slow motion footage, with classical music playing in the background.
But Seaspiracy was different. Alongside the ecological destruction, it revealed the criminality, the slavery, kidnappings and a bloody, illicit wildlife trade.
The film drove a lot of people into action immediately. Major celebrities from the music, acting and sports worlds came out of the woodwork to support its message — that the commercial fishing industry is polluting the oceans and destroying marine life at an astonishing rate.
“We were getting something like ten emails every minute, something for weeks and weeks and weeks from people around the world saying that they want to do something”, Ali told OnImpact.
“There was a small Japanese fishing village that didn’t know they were hunting dolphins down the road. There was a supermarket in Hong Kong that took seafood off of its shelves. There were companies seeking investment for alternative protein sources, like plant-based seafood products, that managed to secure tens of millions of dollars in investment after the movie came out. We got a response from Emmanuel Macron who said France was now looking to increase marine protected areas.”
Impact Investment Summit: The story behind Seaspiracy
Ali Tabrizi will this week speak at the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific, sharing his experience in making the film — from the damage caused by industrial-scale bottom trawling, shark-finning, polluting and lice-infested fish farms, the staggering amount of discarded fishing nets, and the human rights abuses.
Ali will share the story of the making of Seaspiracy, detailing what we all need to know about the global fishing industry. The talk is really about the sort of forgotten frontier of the oceans, not just for conservation, but for impact as well.
He will also detail the three key solutions needed to protect our oceans.
- Create, increase and enforce protected “no-take” marine reserves
Currently, only 5% of the ocean are marine protected areas — 90% of which still allow fishing. But experts say that 30% of the ocean must be protected with “no-take” marine reserves by 2030. To date, more than 100 countries, global alliances, and coalitions publicly support this “30 by 30” effort.
“The good thing about this is it appeals to both sides,” said Ali. “Of course, the ocean activists like it, but when you protect 30% of an ocean there’s also a spillover effect. By improving the biodiversity of these zones, more fish will be produced that will move on and may then be caught by the fishing industry.”
For example, Seaspiracy was a catalyst for the Galapagos marine reserve to halt an attempt to introduce shark fishing, instead boosting its no-take zone to 30,000 square kilometres. Seaspiracy put pressure on WWF Ecuador and the Ecuador government, without which, the Galapagos may have the state of protection that it has today.
- Call for an end to destructive government subsidies
“At the time of the film, the fishing industry was receiving some $35 billion in subsidies per year. Much of that money — particularly in the EU — is used to build larger ships with greater capacity that can stay out at sea for longer,” Ali said.
“Yet a lot of the time these fishing vessels are unprofitable. They go out to sea, catch the fish, but don’t turn a profit. It’s almost like they’re only out there to qualify for the government subsidies to bring them back into profit. This is an area the government can really work on.”
Building on that, Ali says “incentivising solutions would then be another area for government. There are also plenty of startups and NGOs that have solutions that can scale results, but they are slipping through the net of government support.”
- Encourage a shift in personal diets choices away from seafood
“To a very large extent this is a consumer-driven problem,” Ali explained.
“Governments do have a role to play in establishing marine protected areas and then enforcing them, but if people continue to have very high consumption of marine animals there’s not really too much governments can do.”
Seaspiracy Foundation seeks collaborators
Ali recently formed the Seaspiracy Foundation, a charity focused on hard-hitting and high-impact ocean conservation advocacy through high-quality media and campaigning.
Since 2021 the organisation has focused on amplifying its three key goals — increasing marine reserves; ending destructive government subsidies; and shifting personal diets choices —via two main channels that work together in creating one ecosystem:
- Public media: social media content and ‘The Seaspiracy Observer’ newsletter
- Network: Collaborating with a global network of ocean groups and individuals to leverage effective tangible policy changes.
Ali is now based in Australia and says there is a lot to do here in the South Pacific. “You’ve got the Barrier Reef, and you’re close to Southeast Asia where there’s a lot of bio-destruction. I’m excited to see where this is going to lead over the next few years, and there may be another film down the line.
“We’re looking to magnify the impact by being more financially sustainable with some donations, and then targeting areas that we’ve previously not been able to because of the lack of funding.”
The foundation is also accepting donations here: https://www.seaspiracy.org/donate-now
The Seaspiracy Foundation is also looking to connect with collaborators who can help it make change in Australia, to raise worldwide awareness to help save our oceans.
Ali Tabrizi will provide a keynote address on Day 2 of the Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific at ICC in Sydney, this Thursday 27th March at 4:30pm.
You can register for the Summit at https://impactinvestmentsummit.com/