Empty Oceans, Empty Nets
Documentary (56 min.)

Throughout the ages, the world has enjoyed a vast and unlimited ocean, yielding abundant seafood. But increasing demand, new technologies, and burgeoning coastal populations are straining the limits of the ocean's ability to sustain healthy fish populations. Fish harvests are important not only for the more than 200 million people worldwide who hold fishing-related jobs, but for many of the world's populations who depend on seafood as their main source of protein.

In the race to meet the growing demand, new technology has given the edge to the fishers. Crews on long-distance vessels can flash freeze and store the fish in enormous storage freezers; and schools of fish can be located underwater with the aid of sonar and radar. Even in vast oceans, fish have nowhere to hide. Wasteful, indiscriminate fishing practices are also to blame for declining fish stocks as 27 million tons of fish and other sea life are caught and discarded annually. Practices such as dynamiting coral reefs and scooping up the ocean floor also destroy fish habitats, making it more difficult for the reproductive cycle to continue.

Empty Oceans, Empty Nets goes to Indonesia, Boston, the coast of Senegal, and other parts of the world to talk to local fishers and scientists who have been associated with the fishing industry over the last few decades. Interviews reveal that "more boats are chasing fewer fish" and that scores of fish stocks are on a trajectory toward collapse.

Consumers are often unaware that many fish stocks are near collapse. Empty Oceans, Empty Nets asks: can consumers change their demand to prevent irreversible damage to a fragile ecological balance between fish and humans that was millions of years in the making?

2002 Cine Golden Eagle Award