Empty Oceans, Empty Nets  10/9/2003

EMPTY OCEANS, EMPTY NETS

Habitat Media c/o M&R Strategic Services 2120 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20037

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                                               Shara Lange  415/458-1696

EMPTY OCEANS, EMPTY NETS:  DOCUMENTARY EXAMINES THE RACE TO SAVE MARINE FISHERIES

Increasing Demands, Wasteful Fishing Practices, Coastal Populations Straining

Ocean’s Ability to Sustain Healthy Fish Populations

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SAN FRANCISCO—A new documentary by Habitat Media, Empty Oceans, Empty Nets, examines the decline of marine fisheries globally, as well as efforts underway to sustain and restore them.  Presented this spring by San Francisco’s public television station KQED, the documentary’s gripping, never-before-seen-footage emphasizes the importance of fisheries to people worldwide who hold fishing-related jobs, as well to the billions of people who depend on seafood for their entire source of protein.

Empty Oceans, Empty Nets presents a compelling case that supports what fishermen and scientists are reporting the world over, but the public remains largely unaware of.  “Our oceans are rapidly being depleted of fish and, in fact, entire populations of fish are becoming commercially extinct,” said Steve Cowan, the documentary’s executive producer and director.  “We traveled from Indonesia to Boston to the coast of Spain, filming fisheries in decline and interviewing fishermen and scientists, who told us that scores of fish population are on the verge of collapse.”

According to Regina Eisenberg, KQED’s director of station relations and program sales: “Empty Oceans, Empty Nets challenges many of our assumptions about the health and well-being of our oceans.   We’re delighted to be sponsoring this special to the PBS system, because we think it’s an important story that people really need to know and do something about.”

            According to the most comprehensive and recent data published by the United Nations, two-thirds of the major marine fisheries of the world are currently fully exploited, over exploited or depleted, compared to 5 percent reported only 40 years ago. In recent years, fishers, seafood merchants, and fisheries scientists have reported an alarming decrease in the volume and size of fish being captured.   In addition to declining fish stocks, Empty Oceans, Empty Nets investigates a number of other factors that contribute to the decline of ocean fish, including overfishing, bycatch (wasted catch), destructive fishing practices, and a globalized world fish market.

“Destructive fishing practices share the blame for declining fish stocks,” Cowan said.  “In addition to the 100 million tons of seafood brought to the market each year, fishers also catch and discard about 22 million tons of fish and other sea life.”

Practices such as poisoning coral reefs to harvest reef fish and trawling over the ocean floor to scoop up bottom-dwelling fish destroy fish habitats, making it more difficult for fish populations to restore themselves.

            Empty Oceans, Empty Nets was underwritten by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Oceana; Whole Foods;  Marine Conservation Biology Institute; George T. Pfleger Foundation; Gaia Fund; Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation; Unilever; Bullitt Foundation; Compton Foundation; Norcross Wildlife Foundation, Inc.; Project AWARE Foundation; William H. & Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation; Community Foundation of Cape Cod; Jamee and Marshall Field Foundation.

            Habitat Productions was formed in 1992 as a project of the Tides Center, a non-profit organization in San Francisco.  Habitat Media was formed as a multi-media group in 1999 to produce television documentaries and other educational components that complement these documentaries.  The mission of the production group is to encourage public involvement in marine conservation efforts.  Several of Habitat Media’s award-winning productions have encouraged consumer awareness and participation in marine conservation.

Created by  admin  on  10/9/2003