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Mar 25, 2021 43 tweets 9 min read Read on X
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1/

I couldn't sleep, opened twitter, saw @BlahaFrancisco shitting on new Netflix doc #Seaspiracy, so popped it on
2/

4:17 minutes in I had to stop and tweet how ridiculous and made up the science in this film is

He's already told us that if we don't save the whales -- by solving plastic pollution -- we will lose the oxygen we breathe

This should sound familiar to everyone in shark world
3/

Two minute exposition on how straw bans will save whales and turtles
4/

He discovers Japan is still whaling (this wasn't secret info) and decides to expose it
5/

At 12 minutes he pledges never to go to Sea World again

The film opened less than 10 minutes ago with video of him at Sea World saying this is where he learned to care about the ocean
6/

Sea Shepherd rep says Japan doesn't eat dolphins from Taiji, only kills them because they compete with fishermen for fish

Claims Japanese believe dolphins are cause of global overfishing

This is huge, if true
7/

Exposition on tuna fishing

Doubles down on Japanese claim dolphins are cause of tuna overfishing

Introduces shark fishing, says whole landed sharks are "finned"
8/

The shark bit is different except for a few misuses of fishing vs finning - but focuses on how many sharks die (which is the right way to do that)

Cameos by @PauldeGelder, @ProfCallum and Gary Stokes
9/

Bycatch exposition

After criticism of cutting shark fins off, he shows video of sharks being returned whole to the ocean -- and criticizes it
10/

@PauldeGelder says we shouldn't eat fish
11/

Wow

Sea Shepherd love letter

Says Sea Shepherd has sunk 13 boats

Isn't that illegal???!?!
12/

Criticism of dolphin safe tuna and Earth Island Institute
13/

Hard turn to plastic -- fishing gear is the cause of most plastic pollution

Exposition on discarded fishing gear

This is good stuff -- claims he never heard about it

Questions why the focus on drinking straws?!!?
14/

Compares banning drinking straws to save the ocean to banning toothpicks to save the rainforest

That's a zinger

I approve
15/

Jesus he completely embarrasses the Plastic Pollution Coalition

Ties them to Earth Island Institute -- accuses them of being tied to fishing industry
16/

@ProfCallum bringing the thunder now!!

It's not plastic that is the threat -- IT'S FISHING!!
17/

PAUSE

Alright, 35 minutes in

This has turned into "everything I thought I knew about ocean conservation was wrong and now I will uncover what is really going on"

Took a while to get there

Let's see where he goes

PLAY
18/

Pivot to coral reefs

Questions why we only talk about climate threats to reefs and not fishing

Sylvia Earle interview
19/

He calls commercial fishing "wildlife poaching on a mass scale"
20/

Fisheries people will love this Image
21/

Exposition on how ocean life sequesters carbon
22/

Exposition on trawling is bad

Criticism of these NGOs for not bringing attention to the harmful activities of fisheries ImageImage
23/

Mention of 30x30

Says 5% of ocean is protected, but 90% allow fishing

Gives example of UK MPA that only restricts kayaking, but allows industrial fishing
24/

Series of interviews arguing sustainable fishing does not exist
25/

Alright, diversity and inclusion update

@BlahaFrancisco is right

So far the Asians are villians, the browns are victims, and all the people who get speaking roles are white

#decolonizestem
26/

He shits on @oceana for promoting sustainable seafood

I think his interview with their representative was disingenuous
27/

He tries to go to @MSCecolabel but they won't talk to him

He accuses them of corruption

Aand hard turn from MSC to observer murders

That was quick

Whoa, hard turn to fisheries subsidies!!
28/

They interview a minority!
29/

PAUSE

He did a good job of painting the picture of how fisheries gets ignored as a threat to the ocean, but then he goes out on a boat and after maybe a day at sea proclaims he can see no way how we can ever manage fisheries

That's some colonizer shit right there

PLAY
30/

Something about foreign vessels making it harder for locals to catch fish, leading to Bush meat consumption, leading to Ebola
31/

Aquaculture is also bad

Video of salmon lice

Graphic of salmon poop

Scottish accents telling us not to eat farmed salmon
32/

Pivot to mangroves

Shrimp aquaculture destroys mangroves

Slave labor

#bloodshrimp

Pivot to human trafficking
33/

There have been at least 10 mentions of how dangerous filming these locations peppered throughout the film

In Thailand we find out why: he hasn't applied for any permits and is violating several laws
34/

He films the whale slaughter in the Faroe islands and it is horrible
35/

He questions whether we should be setting sustainability as our goal for the ocean

Interviews about whether fish feel pain

Someone suggests fish use "democratic decision making"

Fish are full of toxins
36/

Montage of white people telling us to eat vegetables

Why did he only tell the stories of white people?!?!?!

This is why people think conservation has a white supremacy problem
37:

Solutions montage

1. Don't eat fish

2. Enforce no take protected areas

You know, I think if this guy had interviewed a few minorities he might have gotten a better nuance

I'm tired of these white savior fantasy narratives
38/

Took a short nap

Issues he glossed over:

-We should have some fisheries!
-It's wealthy people who should be making the sacrifice to eat less fish
-Many people have no option to eat something else
39/

Cont.

-the global conservation burden is carried by rural, indigenous, and the global south, whereas MPAs in the global north are tiny to non-existent
-he could have provided a bump to 30x30 efforts -- we can simultaneously work to improve fisheries AND habitat
40/

The film highlights in great detail the many problems with fisheries, but fisheries are not going away -- for economic cultural and social reasons

But he also points out that 90% of MPAs are hot garbage

Truth is, both fisheries and MPAs need to be improved
41/

My final thought

The guy who made this movie is an asshole for the way he depicted NGO staff -- he comes off as a self righteous ocean Borat playing games with the lives of underpaid, underappreciated people who just want to world to be a better place

Fuck you
42/

It looks like one of the lone people of color interviewed in the film didn't even know she was in the film

That is unethical, and in no way a surprise

@netflix, you cool with that??

@ChristinacHicks

43/ Final Final Word

To those who say, "But the world needs a @netflix movie about the ocean!"

In that case, I recommend Mission Blue w @SylviaEarle

@MissionBlue

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More from @TaotaoTasi

Apr 13, 2023
I'm a proponent of sustainable fishing, but there are studies out there showing regular old sustainable fishing is more damaging to fish populations than oil spills and military bombing
Fish populations actually improved after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 because of a huge fisheries closure in the Gulf of Mexico

It only took a few months of a well enforced closure for populations to rebound

journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
In the Marianas scientists found that fishing caused more changes to fish populations than bombing a nearby island

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Read 9 tweets
Mar 6, 2023
10 thoughts on the draft #HighSeasTreaty being put forward for approval:

1. It exempts all military action
2. The section on marine genetic resources exempts all fish and fishing
3. Part 3 -- the section on MPAS -- doesn't include the word "fish"
4. The objective of Part 3 opens with "Conserve and sustainably use areas requiring protection" using ABMTs and MPAs
5. The objectives list the following threats to ocean health: " climate change, ocean acidification
and marine pollution." I think something is missing
5. Article 17 goes on to describe how proposals for ABMTs and/or MPAs can be developed and what they must include. A draft management plan must be included. This is a heavy lift, and creates a chicken/egg situation with Article 18.
Read 11 tweets
Apr 5, 2022
1/

I'm going to criticize "science-based" conservation in this thread

Might take me a while to get there

Buckle in
2/

Even prior to George Floyd, I've spent a lot of time working on values statements from the work I've done on coalitions -- going all the way back to the founding of Beautify CNMI in 2006 -- I've done this probably a few times per year for 15 years
3/

I always bring two examples from my life and work to these discussions:

1. @Rotary's four way test
2. And @Disney's four keys
Read 15 tweets
Apr 17, 2019
1/ In the time of the ancestors, the world must have seemed static and stable. That consistency, over centuries, allowed my people to develop systems using the stars, the winds, and the living Creation to navigate their world.
2/ From father to son, mother to daughter, chants and songs were passed down that told us how to provide for our families on a small island, and how to cross an ocean in an outrigger canoe.
3/ Pacific identity is strongly influenced by the natural world. All aspects of our unique way of life are derived from the ocean and our islands, including songs, dances, myths, stories, economies, world views, and governing systems.
taotaotasi.com/2018/01/connec…
Read 22 tweets
Feb 11, 2019
Today is #WomenInScience Day, so please allow me to introduce you to some of the #WomenInSTEM who have made an impact in my career.
I hope you'll give them a follow so you can keep up with them every day of the year
Let me start with sharks.
@BiminiSharkGirl is the founder of @Sharks4Kids and educates students all across the globe on the importance of protecting sharks.
#WomenInScience
#WomenInSTEM
It's hard keeping up with @leahmeth
We first worked together in 2012(!) to create @TheSharkStanley, the little character who helped protect sharks at #CITES2013
We later retooled him to create shark sanctuaries.
Read 18 tweets

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