McMahonFIlmAnnotation4

Title: The End of the Line Director: Rupert Murray Year: 2007
 * 1. Title, director and release year?**

If commercial fishing continues at its current rate, there might not be any more fish at all.
 * 2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**

The argument is made by switching dynamically between real world towns and interviews to a narration of facts and graphs. This combination, in conjunction with an amazing soundtrack and imagery, works beautifully by providing both opinions and data at once. Since the fishing communities and markets are examined closely, there is a significant human element while the music adds another layer of emotion.
 * 3. How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal?**

Political? Legal? Economic? Technological? Media and Informational? Organizational? Educational? Behavioral? Cultural? Ecological? This film draws out issues of overfishing effects on ocean ecosystems, how companies get away with overfishing, the scientific data and recommendations made to the fishing laws, how and why such recommendations are never taken seriously, and the cultural need for ever increasing amounts of fish.
 * 4. What sustainability problems does the film draw out?**

The parts of the films that I found most compelling were the impact of the cultural want for fish. Some types of fish taste better than others. People are willing to pay for those delicious fish. So, we have perfected the art of hunting a singular species down to near extinction. Once that type of fish is depleted, we move on to the next on the scale of flavor. The graphs showing the number of these fish in the ocean over time really hit home with me; we are fishing them to death. Not only that, but we are willing to do absurd things to keep our bellies full. Thousands of pounds of anchovies are being shipped to fish farms to produce a mere fraction of other fish like blue fin tuna. No one is trying to stop this madness; restraints still serve endangered species on the menu!
 * 5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why?**

I may be biased, but I feel like this movie was the best that we have watched in class so far. I found no flaws in this movie and every question I wrote down for later, this movie answered over the course of class. I found no flaws.
 * 6. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?**

I think that this film best addresses us, the consumers. We need to change our demands for fish so that the fishing industry will slow down it’s massive amount of production. This is more so true in fish-focused societies such as China and Japan. However, that is not to say that us in North America are blameless. We have hunted many of our own species to extinction.
 * 7. What audiences does the film best address? Why?**

As I said before, I literally found this movie to be near flawless. It is my new favorite documentary. Possibly a closer examination of fishing societies and the impact on the native people if I had ot say anything.
 * 8. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value?**

The film not only gave a suggestion, but showed evidence that it worked. By simply not fishing in a given area, the fish population surged. Since this is a semi-unrealistic idea, we could keep to the recommended scientific catch gross and be harsher on companies that overfish.
 * 9. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective.**

This film caused me to seek out more information on the preservation and livelihood of coral reefs along with what the US is doing to protect areas off the coast so that fish can repopulate. As much as I said about the Bush family earlier, they have created some of the biggest sanctuaries in the ocean. Coral Reef: [] US Sanctuaries: []
 * 10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.)**