The End of the Line - Imagine a world without fish!

The End of the Line, the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Sundance took place in Park City, Utah, January 15-25, 2009. The film opened in the UK on June 12th.

In the film we see firsthand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food.

It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation.

Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing to the oceans.

One of his allies is the former tuna farmer turned whistleblower Roberto Mielgo - on the trail of those destroying the world's magnificent bluefin tuna population.

Filmed across the world - from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market - featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world.

The end of seafood by 2048

Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.

The End of the Line chronicles how demand for cod off the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1990s led to the decimation of the most abundant cod population in the world, how hi-tech fishing vessels leave no escape routes for fish populations and how farmed fish as a solution is a myth.

The film lays the responsibility squarely on consumers who innocently buy endangered fish, politicians who ignore the advice and pleas of scientists, fishermen who break quotas and fish illegally, and the global fishing industry that is slow to react to an impending disaster.

The End of the Line points to solutions that are simple and doable, but political will and activism are crucial to solve this international problem.

We need to control fishing by reducing the number of fishing boats across the world, protect large areas of the ocean through a network of marine reserves off limits to fishing, and educate consumers that they have a choice by purchasing fish from independently certified sustainable fisheries.

Global campaign

The End of the Line premiere at Sundance will also kick-off a global campaign for citizens to demand better marine policies. Leading international environmental organizations are lending their full support to the film.

The End of the Line will be released worldwide in 2009 using multiple formats and venues including theaters, broadcast and cable television networks, film festivals, online video campaigns, aquariums, museums and special screenings for environmental and educational organizations.

'There is no better place than Sundance for The End of the Line to have its world premiere,' said the film's director, Rupert Murray.

'Sundance has a long history of making cutting edge, issue-based documentaries matter.' Murray's first film, 'Unknown White Male', premiered at the festival in 2005.

Charles Clover, the book's author, said: 'We must stop thinking of our oceans as a food factory and realize that they thrive as a huge and complex marine environment.

'We must act now to protect the sea from rampant overfishing so that there will be fish in the sea for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.'

'Overfishing is the great environmental disaster that people haven't heard about,' said producer George Duffield. 'A recent global conference about bluefin tuna stocks saw almost no media coverage in the U.S. We hope this film really sounds the alarm. We can fix this problem starting right now.'

'Reading the book The End of the Line changed my life and what I eat. I hope the film will do the same for others,' said producer Claire Lewis.

The End of the Line continues to be shown throughout the UK. Check the website for cinemas, or why not arrange a local showing? Full details are on their website.

(c) The End of the Line 2009 - www.endoftheline.com

Reviews

Friends of The Big Green Idea, Rachel Woodisse and her husband went to see the film and kindly sent in their opinion.

'Having recently watched Age of Stupid, I was very interested in watching Charles Clover's film about the state of the world's fish stocks. My husband and I being keen fish eaters and also having had a holiday in the Maldives many years ago we were keen to watch this new documentary/film.

'My first observation was how so few people turned up to watch it; maybe it was the time it was on? A 7pm showing, not great if you don't work locally or have to put the little ones to bed. Maybe it was just not promoted that well? Up to us to spread the word maybe?

'Well I am a person who gets very moved by any of these type of films and it didn't let me down. I don't think I will forget the opening shocking scenes of big beautiful fish swimming in the lovely deep blue sea edited together with barbaric scenes of live sharks having their fins cut off and blood everywhere. It made me feel very uncomfortable. Jaws this was not!

'I found the rest of the film very informative and depressing yet with glimmers of hope if we act now. Informative because it told us about what happens when the fish does run out - look at Newfoundland for example. Depressing when areas of Africa are running out of fish because the large foreign trawlers are just emptying the seas and leaving nothing for the local fisherman, and therefore they are looking at moving to the UK for work, leaving their families behind. It is even more depressing that these large trawlers are destroying the oceans' sea beds and catching marine life including turtles that they don't need and just dumping it dead back in the sea!

'My only criticism is that the film doesn't really mention much about the controversial EU fishing rules and quotas which would have been interesting.

I came away from the film very motivated to ask more about where my fish comes from and how it is caught, determined not to buy it if I cannot get the answers I need. This also raises the point, will we ever get the labelling on food we all want and deserve?

'So to anyone who is thinking about going to see this film, please do. You will not regret it.'

Rachel Woodisse.

Big Green Idea core support group member Anne-Christine also caught an early showing and gave her thoughts.

'Last Monday, a friend and I went to our local Picturehouse cinema to watch the documentary "End of the Line". Let me tell you straight away that it was good we had no plans for a visit to the chippy on the way out!

'I found this documentary well made and offering a balanced (as in non-hysterical) view of the situation, providing facts about the global fishing industry. As my friend Ruth rightly put it, we walked out of the cinema feeling we had learnt something. And I can tell you that one of the reasons why we have more jellyfish about is we decimate their predators, the big boys such as tuna, marlin and cod. This also allows us to enjoy more shrimps, more lobsters, and their cousins as their population explodes. I learned that it takes 3 to 5 tonnes of small oceanic fish to "make" 1 tonne of farmed fish such as salmon. Wouldn't it be easier to simply eat the small fish?

'There were things that really got me angry, like the fact that Mitsubishi is buying 60% of the bluefin tuna caught and stockpiles it (frozen) waiting for the fish to be extinct or thereabouts so it will sell for fortunes.

'So it seems changing habits and only buying MSC approved wild, line-caught fish (I had such a romantic idea of "line-caught" fish!) is necessary to allow fish stocks to thrive again... "Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048." ( http://endoftheline.com/film )

'If you still feel like eating some fish, you may want to check the "widget" there to help you choose: http://endoftheline.com/campaign/widget

'This film hasn't put me off my dinner, but it has encouraged me to think about fish and the sea. Hopefully, it will do the same for you.'

Anne-Christine