Launched in cinemas across the globe on May 8th, the documentary film ‘Ocean’ from Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios was released to coincide with David Attenborough’s 99th birthday. The film, narrated by the veteran broadcaster, will be available globally on some streaming services from June 8th.
The film’s release has highlighted the visually stunning nature of the ocean while underlining some of the human impacts on the marine environment. Reaction to the documentary has illustrated a range of views from NGOs, academics and industry.
Photo: Sir David Attenborough (Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios/PA)
The film includes footage of bottom trawling, including before and after footage of scallop dredging off Scotland’s Isle of Arran. It also documents the damage inflicted to coral reefs by climate change, with warming the oceans causing mass bleaching events.
In a blog post, the NFFO has set out its views on the film as well as some broader points on bottom trawling: “Insofar as it relates to the UK – and, of course, most of the film does not – the narrative promoted by Ocean is a story about a fishery of the past. New technology and more scientific, evidence-led fisheries management has led to a present-day fleet that is increasingly selective in its gear and restricted in its activities to those areas that can sustain it.
If we are going to continue sustainably producing food from the sea, a diverse fleet is essential. Bottom trawling is a relatively small, but important, part of that in the UK today.
My challenge to all the passionate, committed people who have made and promoted Ocean is this: if you want to see how our fisheries really work, and to understand the potential of sustainable fisheries management, come and talk to us.”
Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said in a statement regarding the documentary: “We agree with Sir David Attenborough in his latest film, Ocean, that there is much to be optimistic about in relation to our seas.
“As Professor Michel Kaiser of The Lyell Centre at Heriot Watt University, among others, points out, globally only 30% of fish stocks are harvested, leaving 70% free and wild.
“While clearly there is scope for improvement in many parts of the world, the future for Scottish fishermen and the seas they make a living from is bright.”
The heads of Greenpeace UK, Oceana UK and Blue Marine Foundation have written to the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, urging him to prioritise ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty and urging him to implement a full ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas.
In the letter to the PM, the NGOs say: “Britain’s marine life is under huge threat from bottom trawling, the most destructive form of fishing, that has had a devastating impact on marine ecosystems in UK domestic waters for decades.
“Fully banning bottom trawling in English MPAs would mean these areas could recover and tangibly deliver on our 30×30 goal in practice, not just on paper”.
“As Sir David says, ‘The ocean can recover faster than we can ever imagine: it can bounce back to life’ and you have a chance to be part of that recovery.
“Act now to ban catastrophic practices like bottom trawling from UK waters and around the world, and ensure we have the protection the world’s ocean needs,” the NGO leaders write.
Writing in The Conversation, Professor Callum Roberts, of Exeter University in the UK, highlighted that the ocean floor is one of the planet’s largest carbon stores, “but when churned up by the passage of trawls and dredges, some is turned back into CO₂, some of which will end up back in the atmosphere.
Any country serious about meeting net zero in time to prevent dangerous climate change must act swiftly to protect its seabed carbon stores. And any country serious about ocean conservation knows that marine protected areas are useless if they don’t exclude trawling and dredging.”
Blue Marine Foundation has launched a campaign, The Bottom Line, which is calling on the UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed to end bottom trawling in marine protected areas, with the charity’s co-founder Charles Clover labelling the practice “ecological vandalism”.