Reviewing Human Nature: Empty Oceans, Empty Nets Screening

In the age of a global economic crisis, wars with the Middle East and a sharp decline in the overall health of Earth’s climate, one can't argue that one thing in life is steadily climbing: the human population. It is only a matter of time until consumer demand will implode upon itself in the quest for food and shelter.

In the documentary film Empty Oceans, Empty Nets, shown on Wednesday, February 18 at the Ferguson Auditorium in the Alexandroff Campus Center at 600 S. Michigan, students were exposed to the rising consumer demand of fish and how factors such as overfishing, bycatch (or “wasted” catch) and vicious fishing practices are contributing to the decline of the world’s fish population. According to Dr. Daniel Pauly, fishers are using more than just a net capturing fish across the seafloor. They are now using more advanced techniques to capture fish, often using cyanide, dynamite, trawling (which captures underwater life/vegetation with heavy nets attached with rollers) among other technological advancements to help them weed out any possible hiding spots for marine life. However, the marine population is slowly dying as the demand for seafood rises, while prices remain relatively stagnant for the most part. The marine population begins to decrease as the bottom end of the food chain (intervertebrates and plankton-eating fish) gets captured, thus depriving the higher-level marine life from their usual meals.

This film was very insightful in the sole fact that this specific problem within the fish population can be attributed to other resources that humans waste in real life. As the human population increases, one can deduce that the consumption of food will rise as well and soon, the ability for humans to eat will be overshadowed by a loss of product. In this film, it is mentioned that at one point, the world’s total catch peaked at 100 million tons; however, the time will soon come when fish cannot replenish their population as rapidly as human seafood consumption. Even more disturbing is the fact that many consumers and vendors are failing to notice where the fish they sell are from, and if that particular fish is in danger of extinction. However, two thirds of the world’s population live mere miles from the ocean and even the most populated continent (Asia) rely heavily on the protein found in fish. Hundreds of millions are employed as fishers, scientists, vendors, etc, but overfishing still occurs in order to meet the global demand.

The main point is made extremely clear in this film: people must be more aware of the damages they cause, instead of relying on ignorance in order to satiate their appetite. In the end, consumers simply must read research and read listings to see what fish are readily available to eat and contribute responsibly to the earth. If humans continue to disregard other species in pursuit of consumption, soon fish and the rest of th food chain will start to deteriorate, just like the icebergs that have melted due to global warming.