rogat+-+sustp+-+MN+-+end+of+the+line

 Michelle Rogat Sustainability Problems

The End of the Line - directed and filmed by Rupert Murray

__**Notes**__
 * trolling was like plowing a field 7 times a year, and this is happening to the ocean floor, as they pull the seabed it cuts out sponges and plants and coral along the sea floor
 * people have this notion that it is huge, "inexhaustible", and goes on forever so people can't grasp at how we can have such a big effect on the ocean
 * our entire philosophical approach has to change, that is what has to happen, a broad shift in thinking
 * first time and place it was understood that industry had an effect on fish population was in 1992 in new foundland/ in st. john's, the cod population had been fished out of existance, and there was a moratorium put on fishing for the next decade or so, overnight 40,000 people had lost their jobs with the dead cod population. This created a crisis for the Canadian economy.
 * in 2007, it was still found that the cod population still wasn't able to recover from the overfishing, even after 15 years
 * this reminds me of the fishing game in env econ class with mikko manner
 * prof daniel pauly - leading expert in global fishing
 * it was very curious that everywhere local fishing catches had decreased, yet overall catches on global scale had increased
 * it was found that in China, they couldn't believe that China was catching that much fish, they simply couldn't be right, but was made up by the communist government for motives related to gas prices
 * this is what had accounted for the seemingly increase in the global catch in fish! so in reality the global catch was really decreasing
 * the big problem here is "too much capacity chasing after too few fish".
 * too many people are seeing our relationship with fish only through the eyes of industry with the sense that it is a fight
 * "the amount of fishing power we have today far outweighs our ability to control ourselves"
 * the blue fin (a kind of tuna) is the most immediate crisis we know about, and it sells on the fashion aware market/buyers,
 * this part of the movie is shot in a way as to make the man who actually wants to do the right thing look almost shady, with simply the film technique and the music, I feel like this is a mistake that we make when filming these sort of movies because we're giving the audience the wrong idea, the wrong feeling about the essentially good guys in these situations
 * the ministry meets to decide on the amounts that industry is allowed to catch, and they are supposed to listen to the advice that scientists give them
 * but they don't, the ministry decides on almost twice the amount that scientists recommend in order to prevent collapse, almost 3x as much as recommended amount to regrow the blue fin population. As result it seems that collapse of the fish population is inevitable.
 * I wonder if there is any bribing or under the table bullshit going on, like a revolving door between the researchers, industry, and government that would result in this, or if the ministry in just THAT stupid and blind to reality.
 * even if and when a fish population dies out, the market will just go on to demand another fish in its place, so when does it end? Ever?
 * for 1.2billion people, fish is a major important part of their diet
 * without fish, you have to consider what would happen to all of the different groups of people that have their economy, livelihood, and culture dependent almost solely on fish... they would be devastated
 * fishing is one of the most wasteful industries because such a high amount of fish get killed when getting caught and get thrown back to the ocean
 * ASIA - HONG KONG
 * big market for exotic fish taken from coral reefs in the seas of southern asia
 * most desirable fish are the reef's largest colorful predator, and once you take away the keystone of a species in a food chain, there usually results in huge disruption of that ecosystem
 * Prof Pete Peterson
 * huge increase in these rays in the chesapeake bay, and the increase in population is directly inverse to the shark population, and how it's been decreasing. so you take away a keystone species, like a shark that is a major predator, then you upset the balance of other species' populations
 * so the overfishing of cod is allowing for an increase in population in whatever the cod used to eat, like shrimp for instance... it could affect the ecosystem in such a way that there is only an ecosystem of mud and worms left
 * with less species in the ocean, the less biodiversity and lower immune system of the oceans. For instance, the oceans' ability to deal and cope with environmental disturbances will decrease, it's resiliency decreases, and so will the ability of the ocean to provide services.
 * THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF OVERSHOOT AND COLLAPSE OF AN INDUSTRY
 * and when the human populations on land become more pressured for food sources because of environmental changes and global warming, it's as if we've bitten our own hand that would've fed us, we won't be able to depend on fish
 * WHAT CAN WE DO SO WE DON'T MEET THE END OF THE LINE?
 * we could source fish from sustainable sources, where populations are actually tracked and limits are followed
 * endangered species are not allowed to go on menus, such as Chilean sea bass and blue fin tuna
 * he asks the restaurant manager "will people still buy it if iits labeled endangered species?" and I have to laugh because OF COURSE they would! It's what a lot of the elite live for! In fact it might even increase the demand for it by making it more conspicuous!
 * we could move our support from the illegal and unsustainable fishing products to supporting only sustainably sourced fish. However, I've never felt that consumer choice would have enough of a collective effect on the practices done by industry, I feel that there should also be economic and legal incentives that come from a change in policy and in legislation.
 * campaign for people to eat more small fish, which would help the fish farming industry if you want and believe in supporting fish farming
 * creating land and ocean areas where we can literally turn back the clock, through marine reserves where commercial fishing is completely banned
 * these areas actually work and show benefits from it, the reefs and fish population increase, move back, and repopulate - but it would take an immense amount of marine reserves and money for them to be able to make the difference that is needed - ways to fund this would be to have the fishing industry actually pay into it like a tax - marine reserves now account for 0.6% of the world's oceans
 * Some are still hopeful for the fish populations because they believe that society, even within the past 5 years, are able to understand so much more, and about our role in what happens... I honestly don't buy into that, but then again my education has made me a bit of a cynic.
 * Alaska - trying to take back control over the fishing and policies that occur in their waters, and they actually follow the science
 * ONE THING DONE WELL BY THIS FILM, I THINK, IS THAT THEY GO TO PROFESSORS AND OTHER EDUCATED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE TO COMMENT OR EXPLAIN AND EXPAND ON A SITUATION, this is nice because you get a better feel about what the experts in academia and practice are saying, and can guess that their motives aren't muddied yet by industry.
 * "the more fish farming we do in the west the less fish there will be", aquaculture to farm fish that feed fish isn't viable really because there aren't enough fish in the ocean anymore to feed
 * END OF THIS FILM WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS, because it actually made you question how future generations are going to look on what we allowed happen and how will this affect how they view us? Will they want to hold us accountable later on? Will they be pissed that we didn't take action earlier on? The ending was actually thought provoking rather than just a visual shot of a dead bird that gives you a nasty feeling in your stomach, like a bad taste in your mouth, while also making you laugh at the ridiculous filming technique they choose for the ending.