Thread by @JamesBellOcean

#seaspiracy... Here goes

Starts with typical marine biologist backstory, top level statistics, blah blah

Initial obsession with plastics, implicates every dead marine mammal as having been caused by plastics

Thinks that whaling nations like Japan have been operating 'under the radar for years'

Under the radar here seeming to mean 'he wasn't personally aware of it'

Interviews a guy about dolphin hunts in Japan

Immediately declares to be dropping his anti-plastic campaign and getting the next flight to Japan. (9min in)

Vibe at this point is of someone who has little knowledge of the context of any issue affecting the oceans, lurching superficially from one issue to another

Mini Jason Bourne trip, apparently the Japanese secret service is onto them immediately.... But they also manage to film fishing the next day

Now realises that marine parks like seaworld have a role in driving dolphin fishing.

Apparently this is a revelation to him. As though that's been under the radar all the time too.

Quotes figure about bluefin tuna being worth up to $3m each. Obviously neglects to mention that this is part of an annual custom of restaurateurs out bidding each other for the first bluefin tuna sold at tsukiji each season.

It is true of course that Bluefin tuna species are amongst the most heavily overfished globally

Jumped now to shark finning

Now bycatch, and the problem of lack of Fisheries observers.

Now highlights dolphin bycatch in France, at least starting to acknowledge that fishing impacts aren't purely the fault of Asian nations.

Lack of observers is definitely a legitimate problem for enforcing any number of regulations.

Again framed as some sort of personal revelation.

Now back to plastics. Monbiot points out that almost half of marine plastics are from fishing gears. As a preventative measure, banning plastic straws is dubious at best.

Maybe this is just a editorial decision but it's so frustrating how this supposed ocean fanatic is just learning all this stuff for the first time.

"saving oceans by banning straws is like trying to save the amazon by banning toothpicks" that's alright by me

Again, railing against the lack of reporting of these issues. None of the things he's reported so far are inaccessible anyone with a smartphone

"empty oceans by 2048" what...

Wasn't that study retracted?

Now onto blue carbon. So far broadly accurate

Equates impact of trawling to deforestation, as though the footprint of trawling is the same as cutting down new areas of rainforest.

It isn't. The vast majority of trawling happens somewhere where it's already occurred.

In terms of the broader ecosystem impacts, yes bottom trawling is amongst the worst.. That doesn't make his comparison a good one though.

Cuts to multiple white people declaring that there's no such thing as a sustainable fishery, even that it's impossible.

Arguing that because sustainability can't be guaranteed or tightly defined, everyone should eliminate fish consumption. As though that's a choice everyone can make.

It's also childish logic - if everyone who cares about eating responsibly sourced seafood just opts out, then the only people left are those who don't know or don't care.

It can be super difficult to know as a consumer what you are getting

Observer programmes are critical, and he rightly points out that those people's work is very risky, even to the point of losing their lives.

Vessel in West Africa was 'fined' and that 'sends a message' - no it doesn't, the corruption reaches very high up and these vessels rarely get hit by these penalties.

Now onto use of slave labour at sea. This is undoubtedly a global problem.

'Outlaw Ocean' by Urbina is a good starting point.

He drops out of a harrowing interview with a former slave because the Thai police have a warrant out for his arrest - he openly admits he is breaking Thai law at this point.

Flying back, he reflects on how "young men, just like me are trapped on these boats"

Really? JUST LIKE YOU? A middle class white guy from the UK who at this point has visited multiple countries rather than pick up a few books on the many well-documented issues he raises.

This conspiracy narrative is really tiring. I'm not trying to diminish the very real problems facing our oceans, but he's forever trying to frame himself as some kind of hero whistleblower

Ponder whether sustainability is the "right goal" for how we care for/ manage the oceans

Now a piece on whether fish feel pain/ have social structures etc. Interviews Jonathan Balcombe (whose book 'What a Fish Knows' is well worth a read)

Now onto contamination of fish meat by chemicals like heavy metals, PCBs etc.

Has there been a single person of colour interviewed yet?

Conservation - it's just for white folks?

The big conclusion..... be a vegetarian and create no take MPAs...

It really took 90 minutes to get to that.

Seriously, nobody thought to call it conspiraSEA?