many of you asked me to talk about Seaspiracy, the new Netflix documentary on food and environment
it's been generating a lot of controversy so let's take an objective look at it and see
which claims stand up to scrutiny and which ones don't
by the way what is up with that title?
I know, it’s from the crowd that made Cow-spiracy and they wanted it to sound similar
But Seaspiracy doesn't even make sense it's not even a pun
you had so many options
The Sea-cret Fishy business
Seaspicious activity Hooked
A Time to krill DESEATFUL
Swimdlers Tide Up
Or the most obvious one: CONSPIRASEA.
C’monnnnnn Alright let’s do this, lets take a look
at Seaspiracy
the movie opens with a fast-paced montage of threats, guns and car chases.
Just so we know it’s a documentary but it's not all boring facts its got some excitement
then we meet our guide.
the obligatory british narrator
everybody knows u wana make a documentary you need an English dude or morgan freeman
non-negotiable
the 1st big question raised in seaspiracy is about single-use plastics.
Straws, plastic bags, packaging etc
The movie argues that all the focus on reducing those on social media and in our society in general is
a bit of a distraction because the main source of plastic pollution is actually the fishing
industry with discarded nets and gear and so the main solution would be to just eat
less fish
So is it true?
Is fishing the main source of plastic and are straws just a strawman?
According to this scientific publication, out of all the plastic in the ocean,
80% is from land sources Including plastic bags and other solid waste
As for the remaining 20%, commercial fishing is the major contributing human activity
although in some areas discarded fishing gear is particularly concentrated.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a vortex of plastic trash floating around in the pacific
3 times the size of France
and 46% of it is fishing nets
so the fishing industry does not cause most of the plastic pollution in the ocean but
it does cause a significant chunk whereas straws are just 0.025% of the plastic
dumped in the ocean
although if we add all the plastic bottles, plastic bags, the packaging etc that’s a
much bigger percentage
So my general impression is seaspiracy is oversimplifying things a bit but they do have a valid point that the
fishing industry is a significant source of plastic pollution that doesn’t get talked
about nearly as much
let’s just agree they’re both issues, discarded nets AND single-use plastic.
Its not like the environment is doing amazing, we need to minimize the damage any way we can
alright moving on
seaspiracy also tells us shark populations have sharply declined and are endangered
1 problem being shark finning, the practice of cutting off the fins and discarding
the rest of the animal back into the ocean, often still alive.
Obviously that’s horrific.
It happens because the fin is the most valuable part of the animal, shark fin soup is very expensive in certain
parts of Asia
the other big problem is bycatch where animals that are not the primary target of fishermen
get caught in the nets and are often discarded as waste
according to these scientists
since 1970, sharks and rays have declined by 71% because of an 18-fold increase in fishing
pressure.
three-quarters of shark species are now at risk of extinction
and
Overfishing is the primary cause of marine defaunation (meaning loss of animal life)
So sadly the movie is right about the alarming decline in sharks
seaspiracy tells us it's not just sharks. bycatch affects porpoises, dolphins, whales, seals, even sea birds
Another startling statistic in the movie is that out of 7 sea turtle species in existence,
6 are threatened or endangered, and the movie attributes this to fishing as well
In general those numbers do check out 6 of the 7 sea turtle species are classified
as threatened, endangered, or critically endangered, and it is largely due to human activity, and
fishing does play a key role, although it seems there are other factors as well
according to multiple experts, bycatch is one of the top threats, although factors like coastal
development, climate change and pollution were also mentioned
and this was explicitly denied in the movie
so again my impression is they’re making valid points overall although they tend to oversimplify
things a bit
in all fairness to the film makers, I know better than most how hard it is to make content boiling down scientific concepts for
a general audience
At the end of the day its a movie.
It can help convey important messages to the public but hopefully we don’t get most of our scientific
information from Netflix
Bottomline there are several big issues with human activity but yes fishing keeps coming
up as a big problem for both pollution and loss of species
Next the movie explains that 1 big problem with the fishing industry is trawling where
massive nets are dragged though the ocean catching everything in their wake
not surprisingly, trawling requires huge amounts of energy
causing as much carbon emission as airplanes
we’ll touch on trawling again in a minute as it becomes relevant for our decisions
next seaspiracy introduces us to some bad-ass super stars
Sea shepherd, an incredible organization that patrols the sea and just nails illegal fishing
vessels.
Apparently they roll up and ram and sink ships, they’ve sunk like a dozen
And then the movie goes back to talking about by-catch
Are you kidding me?
Follow those dudes.
That’s your documentary right here.
I want to see them ramming and sinking some ships.
I would watch that all day long
And look at their ship!
How cool is that?
I can see a reality show around these guys, a Hollywood movie, a buncha merch with sea shepherd on it
Fortunately seaspiracy does circle back later on and show us some Sea shepherd action, guns
and night vision cameras and all
the movie also touches on food labels like dolphin-safe.
They score an interview with santa claus, who admits there’s no way to guarantee a
dolphin-safe product
the documentary concludes the label is a bit of a sham
I didn't find that part that surprising to be honest. we’ve seen this before with feel good terms like cage-free
or free-range.
Usually when we look into those we find the conditions the animals are kept in are not much better
these large companies tend to just game the system and cut corners any way they can.
Its human nature
if there’s an industry practice we don’t like, the solution almost never comes from
that same industry.
Change can come through legislation but we know how long that takes or from consumers voting
with our wallets
To the extent that people care about how animals are treated the only options are a) raising
the animal ourselves b) buying from a local farm we can visit and know
how it operates or c) don't eat it.
those are pretty much the options right there
Delegating this work to large corporations and hoping they’ll do what’s right behind
closed doors and trusting these labels to give us peace of mind, its always going to be at best
a band aid
Ok moving on
seaspiracy also shows us plenty of awkward interviews with organization reps squirming
in their seats
This has become almost obligatory in these guerilla documentaries
But you know you hit jackpot when they tell you to turn off the camera
cuz you know that's going in the trailer!
And of course they keep recording.
How does anyone still fall for this?
Everybody knows these guys never turn off the cameras when you ask them to!!!
its like documentary filmschool 101.
Just keep rolling
Some of these confrontation moments in the movie feel pretty gimmicky.
Like when they show up at the Mitsubishi HQs without an appointment, no interview scheduled
and they roll up with their cameras.
No wonder people ask them to leave.
that’s not exactly proof of a conspiracy. sorry a seaspiracy
Next the movie explains that oceans play a key role in fighting climate change.
In fact oceans pull as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as all the trees and plants
on land
That’s only possible because of the activity and life cycle of all the animals in the ocean
Animals like turtles, sea birds, whales, dolphins, sharks
Precisely the animals that are being decimated by human activity
No animals in the ocean, no carbon sequestration and climate change skyrockets
So even if we only care about ourselves, kill all the fish who cares, its in our own self-interest
to not decimate marine life
next spiracy touches on farmed fish.
which has some advantages at least at first glance like avoiding bycatch
But with farmed animals, land or water, you always run into the same problems.
All the waste they produce
That creates pollution. And what are you going to feed them?
you can feed farmed fish other fish, so it’s a vicious cycle, or you can feed them corn and
soy like cows in factory farms.
either way you always need a ton of energy going into the system to generate all the food
this analysis looked at the environmental impact of different foods
Here’s the GHG emissions for wild-caught fish without trawling.
Here’s with trawling.
So big effect as we saw earlier Now here’s farmed fish, with and without
water recirculation technology And for reference here’s beef at one extreme
And then pork, chicken, dairy, eggs, and plants at the other extreme
So fish tends to be intermediate between pork and beef. on the higher end of GHG emissions
Now maybe if they innovate the farms can become ‘greener’ but right now its not great
seaspiracy also talks a lot about the idea of “sustainable” fishing which
is theoretically possible just not at current levels of consumption.
We’re overfishing and overconsuming globally so at current levels we’re just depleting
the ocean and not putting enough back.
The opposite of sustainable
The film also touches on many other important issues like government subsidies or the horrific
working conditions in the fishing industry including slavery
the last segment of seaspiracy looks at the health effects of eating fish.
Honestly, I’m glad they put this section at the very end because IMO it’s the weakest part
of the documentary.
Dr Michael greger comes on and says the only thing you’ll miss from fish are the pollutants
Now this is not about bashing Greger.
for all we know they shot for 2h and he contextualized a bunch and those 10secs is all that made it into the movie
we know how that goes
but the fact is the documentary does not represent the science on the health effects of eating fish
fish consumption is largely linked to health benefits, including lower risk of CVD, cancer,
Alzheimers and overall mortality
in fact the geographical regions where people eat the most fish and consequently the most
contaminants from fish is also where we see the strongest link between fish consumption and health benefits
That’s not to say these contaminants like mercury don’t matter.
They do and the type of fish and amount makes a difference, especially in more sensitive groups
like pregnant women or young children.
But to suggest that fish is unhealthy, period, because it contains contaminants is not an accurate
representation of the evidence.
Its not even close
And I say this as someone who avoids fish and seafood.
And not because of this documentary, I’ve avoided it for 10years
the evidence indicates I could eat it a couple times a week with no health issue.
I avoid it because of the “externalities”, the environmental footprint and I’d rather
not pay somebody to go suffocate a fish if I don’t need it But that’s my personal
choice it doesn’t mean we’re gona make stuff up
consuming fish especially in moderate amounts is largely linked to health benefits
even when we compare fish to plant foods we don’t see a consistent winner.
Some studies suggest an advantage of plants, but this large analysis published
this year for example found no clear difference
Fish were generally linked to better health outcomes than red meat or eggs but there was
no significant difference between fish and legumes, nuts or whole grains
And studies comparing vegans to pescatarians, like the AHS, suggest some advantages for
vegans, for example when it comes to risk of diabetes and cancer, but when it comes
to risk of overall death it suggested a slight edge for pescatarians
and some of the healthiest and longest lived populations like the classical Okinawans ate some fish
so its not clear either way and to make this even less definitive, these studies only show
correlations so we have to take them with a grain of salt.
Bottomline, the health data doesnt make a compelling case for pescaterians to eliminate
fish or for vegans to add it
based on the available evidence, eating fish a couple times a week or not eating it at
all are both compatible with health
and it's good to remember that for the vast majority of westerners if they replaced some of the stuff they eat,
including some other animal products, with some fish, that would be a health improvement
for those who choose not to eat fish, a common concern is omega3s, particularly the long-chain form like EPA
and DHA.
Seaspiracy shows dr klapper explaining algae are an effective source.
And that’s true
We covered this in more detail in a previous video.
Its not clear whether we need an external source of long-chain omega 3s, but in any
case algae supplements are as effective as fish oil and even fish itself so any of the
3 will get you those omega3s, your call.
My conclusion after watching seaspiracy is I disagree with some points which I think
are oversimplified and sometimes verge on misrepresentation, but they do a good job
of shining a light on some issues with the fishing industry like overfishing, which is a major
issue for sealife and the environment in general so I hope we can focus on the key
takeaways and find solutions to minimize the damage and save our gorgeous oceans and sealife
they’re probably gna make more of these movies, right?
We’ll have eggspiracy, milkspiracy, chickenspiracy
someone on Twitter even asked them to make beespiracy!!!
Sure, make it, but please come up with a better name this time
Hey here’s some ideas feel free to use them
or my personal favorite,
Hey film makers We got your back
if you want to see me fact-check another Netflix documentary on food click here.
And for more on fish and omega3s, check this out.
actually over there.