The End of the Line  

At The Movies has a review of a new documentary on the state of the world's fish stocks - The End of the Line.

THE END OF THE LINE is a documentary based on journalist Charles Clover's book of the same name. He has become an impassioned crusader to save the world's fish stock in our oceans after accidentally stumbling into a Press Conference in The Hague about the issue.

The decimation of the cod industry in Newfoundland, the vast overfishing of blue fin tuna and other species are the result of technology enabling corporations to enter the game for vast profit...

The lack of action on the part of governments, illegally fishing over quotas and inadequate surveillance, plus a lack of ocean sanctuaries have scientists predicting all fish will be gone by the middle of this century, a social and ecological disaster of huge impact...

The first hour of this film is a litany of disasters from Newfoundland to the Mediterranean, from the west coast of Africa to Japan.

The last half hour contains some hope. And that's the importance of this film, because with knowledge comes power.

We can control what we eat; making sure it comes from a sustainable source. One restaurant now informs diners that the blue fin tuna they serve is an endangered species. Jamie Oliver has reportedly taken recipes for blue fin tuna out of his cookbooks.

Instead of having less than one percent of the world's oceans devoted to fish sanctuaries, we ought to have 30%.The director is Rupert Murray, the narrator Ted Danson. There are an irritating number of fish and ocean montages with plaintive music which makes the film longer than it need be, but there's no denying the impact of its content.