March 26, 2021 — The following was released by the Global Aquaculture Alliance:
Seaspiracy, a documentary-styled film released on Netflix this week, intends to shock, and on that count it succeeds.
The 90-minute exposé shows ocean pollution and its vast effects on marine life; it displays grotesque images of dolphins and whales being slaughtered and of vast bycatch species dying, alleging that commercial fisheries have little regard for marine animals and birds; and it outright dismisses aquaculture for its use of marine ingredients and for what it says are poor culture environments.
With the financial backing of Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio, Seaspiracy follows in the footsteps of the similarly produced film Cowspiracy, released in 2014. Like its predecessor, this new film’s clear aim is to turn viewers off of animal proteins in favor of plant-based diets. It doesn’t pull any punches in doing so, alleging:
- That the oceans will be empty of fish in 27 years and will become a barren wasteland
- That aquaculture’s use of fishmeal and fish oil in feeds reduces it to “wild fishing in disguise”
- That farmed salmon are raised in lice-plagued waters and the fish are “swimming in circles in their own filth”
- Dismisses the concept of sustainable seafood entirely
- That the best action is to abstain from any seafood consumption whatsoever.
To make his case, director Ali Tabrizi exhibits victims of forced labor on fishing vessels, notably those from previously documented cases in Thailand. One person who survived tells of physical abuse and the constant threat of death from vessel operators.