Fish&Men_Cvr
This award-winning documentary touches on nearly all aspects of the fishing industry in America—its history, struggles, environmental pitfalls, and potential. Though not without moments of joy and levity, Fish & Men is a somewhat somber and journalistic documentary that uses hard cuts to keep the viewer’s attention as each subject voices their opinion and experience with this multifaceted issue.
There is an intense focus on the voices of the fishermen and fishermen’s wives with the occasional word from other experts. The use of infographics helps to cement the precise costs of America’s warped seafood production and consumption practices. By the end of the documentary, the viewer is left without doubt that something must be done to change the situation for our planet, our collective health, and for those who feed us.
Through both emotional and factual interviews, Fish & Men highlights the senseless management of our waters, the asinine shipment of locally sourced fish to Chinese processing facilities, and the fallacy that we are overfishing our oceans. The majority of what fishermen catch in their nets must be thrown back into the ocean as there is no demand for anything besides cod, shrimp, and lobster on the American market. This phenomenon is known as ‘bycatch’.
The massive industrialized demand for this particular seafood means that unfamiliar or visually unappealing but otherwise tasty fish are ignored while only a few species are harvested. Around 20% of bycatch is dead or dying when it hits the water. By underutilizing other species such as dogfish, sea cucumbers, salmon, squid, and many others, we are doing more harm to our oceans than simply eating every fish which we happen to catch. Such wasteful management does more harm to the ocean's biomes by removing species key to keeping the food web in balance.
Industrialized fishing harms entire communities on the coast as more and more independent small fishermen find themselves trapped in debt just trying to afford the lease on the weight of fish they are legally allowed to catch. The mammoth industrial fishing industry like Gorton’s Seafood has the funding to afford massive leases while the independent fisherman can barely afford the costs of fueling their boat. It is these small fishermen who are the true stewards of the oceans; they know the sea and its creatures and can tell how healthy or plentiful the fish are since they have been fishing their entire lives.
Each of their interviews reveals the same fact: We have allowed demand to come before the supply and that is what is hurting everyone the most. The ocean contains a bounty of fish that never make it to the table while several species have been fished nearly to extinction simply because of companies like Red Lobster's demand for cheap fish. By ecologically sourcing and scaling back industrial fisheries, we can find a balance that feeds us better and pays those who do it for their noble service. Fish & Men is a highly recommended purchase. Aud: C, P.